different between central vs chief

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centr?lis, from centrum (“centre”), from Ancient Greek ??????? (kéntron).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?nt??l/

Adjective

central (comparative more central, superlative most central)

1. Being in the centre.
2. Having or containing the centre of something.
3. Being very important, or key to something.

   Synonyms: dominant, main, principal
4. (anatomy) Exerting its action towards the peripheral organs.

Derived terms

Related terms

• center

Translations

Noun

central (plural centrals)

1. (especially US) centre

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centr?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /s?n?t?al/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /sen?t?al/

Adjective

central (masculine and feminine plural centrals)

1. central (being in the centre)

Derived terms

• centralment
• centralitat
• centralitzar

Related terms

• centre

Noun

central f (plural centrals)

1. nexus; headquarters (non-military); central office
2. (electricity) power plant

Synonyms

• seu (“seat or headquarters”)

Antonyms

• sucursal (“branch office”)

Derived terms

Further reading

• “central” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “central” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “central” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “central” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centralis.

Noun

central c (singular definite centralen, plural indefinite centraler)

1. headquarters, place whence organizations are administrated

Declension

Adjective

central

1. central, being in the centre

Inflection

References

• “central” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centr?lis. Synchronically analysable as centre +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??.t?al/

Adjective

central (feminine singular centrale, masculine plural centraux, feminine plural centrales)

1. central

Antonyms

• périphérique

Derived terms

• banque centrale
• chauffage central (“central heating”)
• rond central
• système nerveux central
• unité centrale
• vision centrale

Related terms

Further reading

• “central” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• raclent

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centr?lis.

Adjective

central m or f (plural centrais)

1. central

Derived terms

• centralismo
• centralista
• centralizar

Related terms

• centro

Further reading

• “central” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Occitan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centr?lis.

Adjective

central m (feminine singular centrala, masculine plural centrals, feminine plural centralas)

1. central

Related terms

• centre

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centr?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /s?.?t?a?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /s?.?t?aw/, [s???????.?t?ä??]
• Hyphenation: cen?tral

Adjective

central m or f (plural centrais, comparable)

1. central

Noun

central f (plural centrais)

1. centre
2. headquarters
3. (Portugal, soccer) back (player in a position behind most players on the team)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French central, Latin centr?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t??en?tral]

Adjective

central m or n (feminine singular central?, masculine plural centrali, feminine and neuter plural centrale)

1. central, pivotal, nodal

Declension

Related terms

• centru

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centr?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /?en?t?al/, [??n??t??al]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /sen?t?al/, [s?n??t??al]

Adjective

central (plural centrales)

1. central

Derived terms

• centralismo
• centralista
• centralizar
• centralmente
• precentral

Noun

central f (plural centrales)

1. headquarter
2. center
3. power station

   Synonym: centra eléctrica

Derived terms

Related terms

• centrar
• céntrico
• centro

Further reading

• “central” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Swedish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin centr?lis, from centrum (“center point”) + -?lis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

central

1. central, centralized, situated at the centre (of a town)
2. central, important

Declension

Related terms

Etymology 2

Clipping of centralstation, or any other compound of the adjective.

Noun

central c

1. a central, a centre, a central station, a junction, a connection point, an electrical switchboard

Declension

Related terms

References

• central in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

English

Etymology

From Middle English chef, borrowed from Old French chief (“leader”), from Vulgar Latin capus (from which also captain, chieftain), from Latin caput (“head”) (English cap (“head covering”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (English head).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?i?f/
• Rhymes: -i?f

Noun

chief (plural chiefs)

2. A leader or head of a group of people, organisation, etc. [from 13th c.]
   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 4:

     My father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a chief by both blood and custom.

   All firefighters report to the fire chief.

3. (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. [from 15th c.]
   • 1889, Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry:

     When the Chief is Charged with any figure, in blazon it is said to be "On a Chief".

4. The principal part or top of anything.
5. An informal term of address, sometimes ironic.

   Hey, chief.

Synonyms

• chieftain
• chiefess (female chief)
• See also Thesaurus:boss

Derived terms

Pages starting with “chief”.

Related terms

• captain
• chef
• chieftain

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ??? (ch?fu)
• ? Swahili: chifu

Translations

Adjective

chief (comparative chiefer or more chief, superlative chiefest or most chief)

1. Primary; principal.
2. (Scotland) Intimate, friendly.
   • 2006, James Robertson: The Testament of Gideon Mack, p 324:

     'You’re doing it because she was your friend, not because she was a parishioner, and certainly not because of the Declaratory Articles,' Macmurray said, pushing himself forward on his seat. 'Everybody knows how chief you and she were. It was an unfitting relationship for a minister while she was alive, and it is equally unfitting for you to do her a favour like this now she's dead.'

Translations

Verb

chief (third-person singular simple present chiefs, present participle chiefing, simple past and past participle chiefed)

1. (US, slang) To smoke cannabis.
   • 2012, Marquis "Cream" Cureton, When the Smoke Clears (page 268)

     He chiefed on the bud like a pro, taking long deep hits and holding it within until he had inhaled as much of the weed smoke as he could.

See also

• chef

Anagrams

• cheif, fiche, fiché

Middle English

Noun

chief

1. Alternative form of chef

Adjective

chief

1. Alternative form of chef

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French chief.

Noun

chief m (plural chiefs)

1. head

Descendants

• French: chef (see there for further descendants)

Old French

Alternative forms

• cap (La Vie de Saint Léger, circa 980)
• chef, cief

Etymology

First known attestation 881 in The Sequence of Saint Eulalia. From Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?je?f/

Noun

chief m (oblique plural chiés, nominative singular chiés, nominative plural chief)

1. (anatomy) head
   • circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     Le chief li desarme et la face.

     He exposed his head and his face.

2. leader, chief
3. front (foremost side of something)

Descendants

• Middle French: chief
  • French: chef (see there for further descendants)
• Norman: chef
• ? Middle English: chef
  • English: chief
  • Scots: chief
• ? Old Spanish: xefe
  • Spanish: jefe, gefe
    • ? English: jefe
    • ? Cebuano: hepe
  • ? Asturian: xefe
  • ? Galician: xefe
  • ? Portuguese: chefe