Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗noun
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryThe leader or head of a tribe, organisation, business unit, or other group. · Headship, the status of being a chief or leader. · 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. · The principal part or top of anything.
Etymology tree substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap-? Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *káput Proto-Italic *kaput Latin caput Vulgar Latin capus Old French chiefbor. Middle English chef English chief Inherited from Middle English chef, borrowed from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput, from Proto-Italic *kaput, from Proto-Indo-European *káput, from *kap-, possibly from *kap-, possibly borrowed from a substrate language. Doublet of cape (“point of land”), capo, caput, and chef through Latin (possibly also related to cape (“sleeveless garment”) and cap (“head covering”) from Latin cappa); doublet of head and Howth through Proto-Indo-European.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:chef",
"text": "++",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nsubstratebor.?\nProto-Indo-European *kap-?\nProto-Indo-European *kap-\nProto-Indo-European *káput\nProto-Italic *kaput\nLatin caput\nVulgar Latin capus\nOld French chiefbor.\nMiddle English chef\nEnglish chief\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"head\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"head\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"head\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"head\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"id\" : \"seize\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"lang_name\" : \"substrate\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang\" : \"qfa-sub\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*kap-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*kap-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*káput\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*kaput\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"caput\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Vulgar Latin\", \"term\" : \"capus\", \"lang\" : \"la-vul\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"chief\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"chef\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"chief\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"chief\">\nInherited from Middle English chef, borrowed from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput, from Proto-Italic *kaput, from Proto-Indo-European *káput, from *kap-, possibly from *kap-, possibly borrowed from a substrate language."
},
{
"name": "doublet",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "cape",
"3": "capo",
"4": "caput",
"5": "chef",
"t1": "point of land"
},
"expansion": "Doublet of cape (“point of land”), capo, caput, and chef"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "cappa"
},
"expansion": "Latin cappa"
},
{
"name": "doublet",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "head",
"3": "Howth",
"notext": "1"
},
"expansion": "head and Howth"
},
{
"name": "ety",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:chef",
"text": "++",
"tree": "1"
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"expansion": "Etymology tree\nsubstratebor.?\nProto-Indo-European *kap-?\nProto-Indo-European *kap-\nProto-Indo-European *káput\nProto-Italic *kaput\nLatin caput\nVulgar Latin capus\nOld French chiefbor.\nMiddle English chef\nEnglish chief\nInherited from Middle English chef, borrowed from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput, from Proto-Italic *kaput, from Proto-Indo-European *káput, from *kap-, possibly from *kap-, possibly borrowed from a substrate language."
}
],
"links": [
[
"*kap-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kap-#Proto-Indo-European:_seize"
],
[
"*kap-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kap-#Proto-Indo-European:_head"
],
[
"*káput",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/káput#Proto-Indo-European:_head"
],
[
"*kaput",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/kaput#Proto-Italic:_head"
],
[
"caput",
"caput#Latin"
],
[
"capus",
"capus#Latin:_head"
],
[
"chief",
"chief#Old_French"
],
[
"chef",
"chef#Middle_English"
],
[
"chef",
"chef#Middle_English"
],
[
"chief",
"chief#Old_French"
],
[
"capus",
"capus#Latin:_head"
],
[
"caput",
"caput#Latin"
],
[
"*kaput",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/kaput#Proto-Italic:_head"
],
[
"*káput",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/káput#Proto-Indo-European:_head"
],
[
"*kap-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kap-#Proto-Indo-European:_head"
],
[
"*kap-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kap-#Proto-Indo-European:_seize"
],
[
"cape",
"cape#English"
],
[
"capo",
"capo#English"
],
[
"caput",
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],
[
"chef",
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],
[
"cape",
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],
[
"cap",
"cap#English"
],
[
"cappa",
"cappa#Latin"
],
[
"head",
"head#English"
],
[
"Howth",
"Howth#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"word": "チーフ",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "chīfu"
},
{
"lang": "Swahili",
"lang_code": "sw",
"word": "chifu",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"The leader or head of a tribe, organisation, business unit, or other group.",
"Headship, the status of being a chief or leader.",
"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.",
"The principal part or top of anything."
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
],
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"rawRecordSha256": "71dfa2a7bb2383625f49e8d0b39029d761c41aa263aa820be765be5c45f3ea24",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 168092
}
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