different between first vs chief
first
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /f??st/
- (General American) enPR: f?rst, IPA(key): /f?st/
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /f?rst/, /f?rst/
- Hyphenation: first
- Rhymes: -??(?)st
Etymology 1
From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-Germanic *furistaz (“foremost, first”), superlative of Proto-Germanic *fur, *fura, *furi (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *per-, *pero- (“forward, beyond, around”), equivalent to fore +? -est. Cognate with North Frisian foarste (“first”), Dutch voorste (“foremost, first”), German Fürst (“chief, prince”, literally “first (born)”), Swedish först (“first”), Norwegian Nynorsk fyrst (“first”), Icelandic fyrstur (“first”).
Alternative forms
- 1st, Ist; I, I. (in names of monarchs and popes)
- firste (archaic)
- fyrst, fyrste (obsolete)
Adjective
first (not comparable)
- Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.
- Hancock was first to arrive.
- Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.
- 1784: William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE
- THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Per?ons of the fir?t di?tinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ?everal new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and di?tingui?h it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.
- 1784: William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE
Related terms
- for
- fore
Translations
Adverb
first (not comparable)
- Before anything else; firstly.
- For the first time;
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:firstly
Translations
Noun
first (countable and uncountable, plural firsts)
- (uncountable) The person or thing in the first position.
- 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
- 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- (uncountable) The first gear of an engine.
- (countable) Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.
- (countable, baseball) first base
- (countable, Britain, colloquial) A first-class honours degree.
- (countable, colloquial) A first-edition copy of some publication.
- A fraction of an integer ending in one.
Translations
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
- primary
- primus inter pares
Etymology 2
From Middle English first, furst, fyrst, from Old English fyrst, fierst, first (“period, space of time, time, respite, truce”), from Proto-Germanic *frestaz, *fristiz, *frest? (“date, appointed time”), from Proto-Indo-European *pres-, *per- (“forward, forth, over, beyond”). Cognate with North Frisian ferst, frest (“period, time”), German Frist (“period, deadline, term”), Swedish frist (“deadline, respite, reprieve, time-limit”), Icelandic frestur (“period”). See also frist.
Noun
first (plural firsts)
- (obsolete) Time; time granted; respite.
References
- first at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- FTIRs, SIRTF, frist, frits, rifts
first From the web:
- what first person
- what first person point of view
- what first led to a need for flavorists
- what first attracted gatsby to daisy
- what first graders need to know
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- what first car should i get
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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
- what chiefs players are injured
- what chiefly determines the polarity of a bond
- what chiefs game
- what chief of staff do
- what chief is the president
- what chiefs game live
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