different between chief vs chiff
chief
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)
- 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.
- 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 4:
- (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".
- 1889, Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry:
- The principal part or top of anything.
- 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)
- Primary; principal.
- (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.'
- 2006, James Robertson: The Testament of Gideon Mack, p 324:
Translations
Verb
chief (third-person singular simple present chiefs, present participle chiefing, simple past and past participle chiefed)
- (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.
- 2012, Marquis "Cream" Cureton, When the Smoke Clears (page 268)
See also
- chef
Anagrams
- cheif, fiche, fiché
Middle English
Noun
chief
- Alternative form of chef
Adjective
chief
- Alternative form of chef
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French chief.
Noun
chief m (plural chiefs)
- 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)
- (anatomy) head
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
- Le chief li desarme et la face.
- He exposed his head and his face.
- Le chief li desarme et la face.
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
- leader, chief
- 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
- Spanish: jefe, gefe
chief From the web:
- what chiefs
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chiff
English
Etymology
Onomatopoeic.
Noun
chiff (plural chiffs)
- (music) The characteristic sound made as part of the attack of certain notes on the organ.
- 1998, Fletcher, N.H. and Rossing, T.D, The Physics of Musical Instruments, Springer Science & Business Media, page 570
- In all these adjustments, the voicer must have regard to the steady sound of the pipe, to its promptness of speech, and to the presence or absence of any desired starting transient or chiff.
- 1998, Fletcher, N.H. and Rossing, T.D, The Physics of Musical Instruments, Springer Science & Business Media, page 570
chiff From the web:
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- what chiffon cake
- what's chiffon material
- what's chiffonade of basil
- what chiffonade mean
- what chifferobe meaning
- what's chiffon pie
- chiffon meaning
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