Chief

Chief, chēf, adj. head: principal, highest, first: (Scot.) intimate.—adv. chiefly.—n. a head or principal person: a leader: the principal part or top of anything: (her.) an ordinary, consisting of the upper part of the field cut off by a horizontal line, generally made to occupy one-third of the area of the shield.—ns. Chief′-bar′on, the President of the Court of Exchequer; Chief′dom, Chief′ship, state of being chief: sovereignty; Chief′ery, an Irish chieftaincy: the dues paid to a chief; Chief′ess, a female chief; Chief′-jus′tice (see Justice).—adj. Chief′less, without a chief or leader.—adv. Chief′ly, in the first place: principally: for the most part.—ns. Chief′ry, a rent paid to the supreme lord: a chief's lands; Chief′tain, the head of a clan: a leader or commander:—fem. Chief′tainess; Chief′taincy, Chief′tainship; Chief′tainry.—In chief (her.) means that the charge is borne in the upper part of the shield: applied to holding land directly from the sovereign: at the head, as commander-in-chief. [Fr. chef—L. caput, the head.]