chieftain

From Middle English cheveteyn, cheftayne, from Old French chevetaine, from Late Latin capitaneus (English captain), from Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (English head). Doublet of captain.

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃiːf.tən/, /ˈt͡ʃiːf.tɪn/

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chieftain (plural chieftains)

1. A leader of a clan or tribe.
   • 1970, Kazimierz Godłowski, “The chronology of the Late Roman and early migration periods in Central Europe”, in Acta scientiarum litterarumque: Schedae archeologicae‎, Nakładem Uniwersytetu Jagiellonśkiego, page 22:

     They were probably the work of individual craftsmen working to meet the chieftains' needs. Their place in the chronology of the big cemeteries is indicated by the less richly-decorated double-springed bronze brooches which are found here.

2. (by extension) A leader of a group.

   The robber chieftain divided up the spoils.

• (leader of a clan or tribe): chief, big gun, big shot, big wheel, bigwig, boss, employer, foreman, head, leader, mandarin, manager, mover and shaker, top banana, top dog, tycoon

• chieftainess, chieftess

From Middle Scots chiftane, chyftane, from Early Scots chefftane, from Middle English cheftayne, from Old French chevetaine, from Late Latin capitaneus, from Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput-.

• IPA^(key): [tʃiften]

chieftain (plural chieftains)

1. chieftain
2. (possibly) schore; leader of a Highlands clan

• “chieftain” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.