different between chief vs especial

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

English

Alternative forms

• especiall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English especial, via Old French especial, from Latin specialis, from species (“appearance, form, beauty”), from specere (“to look”). Related to English special and species.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?p???l/
• Rhymes: -???l
• Hyphenation: es?pe?cial

Adjective

especial (comparative more especial, superlative most especial)

1. Exceptional in importance or significance; special.
2. Particular.

Usage notes

especial is far less common than special

Derived terms

• especially

Related terms

• special

Translations

Anagrams

• Speciale, calipees

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin speci?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /?s.p?.si?al/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /es.pe.si?al/

Adjective

especial (masculine and feminine plural especials)

1. special

Derived terms

Related terms

• especialitat

Further reading

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

Occitan

Alternative forms

• especiau (Gascon, Limousin, Provençal)

Etymology

From Latin speci?lis.

Adjective

especial m (feminine singular especiala, masculine plural especials, feminine plural especialas)

1. special

Derived terms

Related terms

• especialitat

Further reading

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2016, page 117.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin speci?lis.

Adjective

especial m (oblique and nominative feminine singular especiale)

1. special
2. powerful; mighty

Declension

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin speci?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /i?.p?.?sja?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /is.?pe.si.?aw/, [?s?.?pe.s??.?ä??]
• Hyphenation: es?pe?ci?al

Adjective

especial m or f (plural especiais, comparable)

1. special
2. (euphemistic) disabled (having some physical disability)

Derived terms

• especialidade
• especialmente

Noun

especial m (plural especiais)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Further reading

• “especial” in iDicionário Aulete.
• “especial” in Dicionário inFormal.
• “especial” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “especial” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2021.
• “especial” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “especial” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin speci?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /espe??jal/, [es.pe??jal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /espe?sjal/, [es.pe?sjal]

Adjective

especial (plural especiales)

1. special (distinguished by a unique quality)
2. special (of particular interest or value)

Derived terms

Related terms

• especialidad

Further reading

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