chieftain

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈtʃiftən/ UK /ˈtʃiːftən/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the leader of a clan, tribe, or band

The clan chieftain rallied his warriors before the battle.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the leader of a clan,... chief leader headheadmanruler commandersachem

Opposites

subordinate follower subject

Word family

Derived forms chieftaincychieftainship

Related forms chief captain

Etymology

From Old French chevetaine ('captain, leader'), from Late Latin capitāneus ('chief'), from Latin caput ('head'). A doublet of captain.

chevetaine Old French capitāneus la-lat caput Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

# chieftain

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈtʃiftən
**IPA (UK):** ˈtʃiːftən

## Meanings
1. the leader of a clan, tribe, or band

## Examples
- The clan chieftain rallied his warriors before the battle.

## Synonyms
- chief
- leader
- head
- headman
- ruler
- commander
- sachem

## Antonyms
- subordinate
- follower
- subject

## Derived Forms
- chieftaincy
- chieftainship

## Related Forms
- chief
- captain

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: chevetaine
- Root: capitāneus
- Root: caput

## Etymology
From Old French chevetaine ('captain, leader'), from Late Latin capitāneus ('chief'), from Latin caput ('head'). A doublet of captain.

## AI Etymology
Chieftain is from Old French chevetaine ('captain, leader'), from Late Latin capitāneus ('chief'), from Latin caput ('head'). A doublet of captain. Important recorded forms include chevetaine (Old French), capitāneus (Latin), and caput (Latin). The current sense covers the leader of a clan, tribe, or band. The wider family includes derived forms such as chieftaincy and chieftainship and related words such as chief and captain.

## Topics
- People & Society

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chieftain

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