chieftain
Americannoun
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the chief of a clan or a tribe.
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a leader of a group, band, etc..
the robbers' chieftain.
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Military. Chieftain, Britain's main battle tank since 1969, fitted with a 120 mm gun and two machine guns and weighing 55 tons (50 metric tons).
noun
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the head or leader of a tribe or clan
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the chief of a group of people
Other Word Forms
- chieftaincy noun
- chieftainship noun
Etymology
Origin of chieftain
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English cheftayne, variant of chevetaine, from Old French, from Late Latin capitāneus “chief”; see captain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde—Gen. Franco to you and me; Caudillo de España, or chieftain of Spain, to his countrymen—died on Nov. 20, 1975.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
In the latter respects, the series also resembles “Game of Thrones,” where Momoa spent two seasons as chieftain Khal Drogo.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2025
Charity Adams, changed back to “Fort Lee,” I can only imagine how the SCV and others would respond to a re-renaming after any Lee other than their holy Confederate chieftain.
From Slate • Feb. 12, 2025
Now, the mercenary chieftain would be subordinated to Mr. Shoigu, an unparalleled political survivor in modern Russia and Mr. Prigozhin’s sworn enemy.
From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2023
He was the chieftain of the white men, for he began to shout orders which they quickly obeyed.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
