different between chief vs prominent

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

Etymology

From obsolete French prominent (compare proéminent), from Latin pr?min?ns, present active participle of pr?mine? (“jut out, to project”), from pr? (“before, forward”) + mine? (in compounds, “jut, project”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p??m?n?nt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p??m?n?nt/
• Hyphenation: prom?i?nent

Adjective

prominent (comparative more prominent, superlative most prominent)

1. standing out, or projecting; jutting; protuberant

   Synonyms: extuberant, outstanding

2. likely to attract attention from its size or position; conspicuous

   Synonyms: attention-grabbing, eye-catching, flashy

3. eminent; distinguished above others

   Synonyms: eminent, forestanding, noteworthy; see also Thesaurus:notable

Derived terms

• improminent
• prominently

Related terms

• prominence

Translations

See also

• imminent
• eminent

Further reading

• prominent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• prominent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• prominent at OneLook Dictionary Search

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin pr?min?ns.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /p?o.mi?nent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /p?u.mi?nen/

Adjective

prominent (masculine and feminine plural prominents)

1. prominent

Related terms

• prominència

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?nt

Adjective

prominent (comparative prominenter, superlative prominentst)

1. prominent

Inflection

German

Etymology

From Latin pr?min?ns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [p?omi?n?nt]
• Hyphenation: pro?mi?nent

Adjective

prominent (comparative prominenter, superlative am prominentesten)

1. prominent

Declension

Further reading

• “prominent” in Duden online

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?pro?.mi.nent/, [?p?o?m?n?n?t?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?pro.mi.nent/, [?p???min?n?t?]

Verb

pr?minent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of pr?mine?

Polish

Noun

prominent m pers

1. eminent person; distinguished above others; VIP

Declension

Derived terms