Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

chief

/t͡ʃiːf/ noun, adjective, verb, proper noun

Forms chiefs chiefer chiefest chiefing chiefed

  1. noun The leader or head of a tribe, organisation, business unit, or other group. “All firefighters report to the fire chief.”
  2. noun (uncountable, only with "in") Headship, the status of being a chief or leader. “Bob is our troubleshooter in chief.”
  3. noun (heraldry) The top part of a shield or escutcheon; more specifically, an ordinary consisting of the upper part of the field cut off by a horizontal line, generally occupying the top third.
  4. noun The principal part or top of anything.
  5. noun (sometimes ironic) An informal term of address.
  6. noun (offensive) An informal term of address for a Native American or First Nations man.
  7. adjective Primary; principal. “Negligence was the chief cause of the disaster.”
  8. adjective (Scotland) Intimate, friendly.
  9. verb (slang) To smoke cannabis.
  10. proper noun A township in Mahnomen County, Minnesota, United States.

Synonyms

leader head director commander governor boss administrator manager chieftain top dog foreman gaffer honcho headman tribal chief main primary principal master

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English chef, borrowed from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput, from Proto-Italic *kaput, from Proto-Indo-European *káput, from *kap-, possibly from *kap-, possibly borrowed from a substrate language.
Doublet of cape (“point of land”), capo, caput, and chef through Latin (possibly also related to cape (“sleeveless garment”) and cap (“head covering”) from Latin cappa); doublet of head and Howth through Proto-Indo-European.

Named after an Ojibwe chieftain, or chief.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun The head or leader of any body of men; a commander, as of an army; a head man, as of a tribe, clan, or family; a person in authority who directs the work of others; the pricipal actio or agent.
  2. noun The principal part; the most valuable portion.
  3. adjective Highest in office or rank; principal; head. "Chief rulers." John.
  4. adjective Principal or most eminent in any quality or action; most distinguished; having most influence; taking the lead; most important; as, the chief topic of conversation; the chief interest of man.

Etymology [OE. chief, chef, OF. chief, F. chef, fr. L. caput head, possibly akin to E. head. Cf. Captain, Chapter]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chief”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “chief” (best matches first).

All 422 Sanskrit matches →