chieftain
/ˈt͡ʃiːf.tən/ noun
Forms chieftains
- noun A leader of a clan or tribe.
- noun (by extension) A leader of a group. “The robber chieftain divided up the spoils.”
Synonyms
chief big gun big shot big wheel bigwig boss employer foreman head leader mandarin manager mover and shaker top banana top dog tycoon captain headman tribal chief
Etymology
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), itself from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Doublet of captain; related to chief.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [OE. cheftayn, chevetayn, OF. chevetain, F. capitaine, LL. capitanus, fr. L. caput head. Cf. Captain, and see chief.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chieftain”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details