Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. The leader or head of a group, especially of a clan or tribe.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A leader of a clan or tribe.
- n. A leader of a group, e.g. a robbers' chieftain.
- n. The name of a British military tank.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. A captain, leader, or commander; a chief; the head of a troop, army, or clan.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A captain, leader, or commander; a chief; the head of a troop, army, or clan.
- n. Synonyms Commander, Leader, etc. See chief.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. the head of a tribe or clan
- n. the leader of a group of people
Etymologies
Examples
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During these various operations – for the whole family seemed eager to show their hospitality – the old man discovered, not so much by the costliness of his garments as by the noble mien and gentle manners of the stranger, that he was some chieftain from the castle.
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The rebel-chieftain is let go with the honors of war.
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Whenever a chieftain was assigned, an item authenticating his rank (xinwu) was given to him by the court, symbolizing the establishment of the relationship.
Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE)
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It seems that there was a certain Irish chieftain named Dichu who was told that a strange ship had just landed.
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A chieftain must be rooted in the clan, for the chieftain is the clan.
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Philosophique, &c., tom.i. p. 457.] 80 This Gothic chieftain is called by Jornandes and Isidore, Athaulphus; by Zosimus and
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Do not forbid them entry; they have the manner of earls, and from his bearing their chieftain is a mighty warrior.
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Living with the chieftain were his wife and daughter, the latter just budding into womanhood.
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The chieftain was a youth who had just succeeded his father over his people and was on his way to Memphis bearing tribute to Meneptah.
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To him physical cowardice was the unforgivable sin, next to treachery to his lord; for the loyalty of thane to his chieftain was a very deep and abiding reality to the Anglo-Saxon warrior, and in the early poems of our English race, love for "his dear lord, his chieftain-friend," takes the place of that love of woman which other races felt and expressed.
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