chief: [13] Etymologically, the chief is the ‘head’. The word comes via Old French chef or chief and Vulgar Latin *capum from Latin caput ‘head’. The adjectival use is equally as old as the noun use in English. Other English offshoots of *capum are cape and, via the diminutive form *capitellus, cadet, and it also forms the basis of achieve.
The form which has come through into modern French is, of course, chef, which entered English in the sense ‘cook’ (short for chef de cuisine ‘head of the kitchen’) in the 19th century. Chieftain [14] comes via Old French chevetaine from late Latin capitāneus (a derivative of caput ‘head’), which was later reborrowed as captain. => achieve, cadet, cape, captain, chef
chief (adj.)
c. 1300, "highest in rank or power; most important or prominent; supreme, best," from Old French chief "chief, principal, first" (10c., Modern French chef), from Vulgar Latin *capum (also source of Spanish and Portuguese cabo, Italian capo, Provençal cap), from Latin caput "head," also "leader, guide, chief person; summit; capital city" (see capitulum).
chief (n.)
c. 1300, "head, leader, captain; the principal or most important part of anything;" from Old French chief "leader, ruler, head" of something, "capital city" (10c., Modern French chef), from Vulgar Latin *capum, from Latin caput "head," also "leader, chief person; summit; capital city" (see capitulum). Meaning "head of a clan" is from 1570s; later extended to American Indian tribes. Commander-in-chief attested from 1660s.
双语例句
1. The programme of sell-offs has been implemented by the new chief executive.
新任总裁已经执行了抛售方案。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The Chief Constable's clipped tones crackled over the telephone line.
电话线那头噼里啪啦地传来警察局长短促的声音。
来自柯林斯例句
3. In the squash court his chief aim is to flatten me.
在壁球场上他的主要目标就是击败我。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Their chief negotiator turned his critical eye on the United States.
他们的首席谈判代表以批判的眼光看美国。
来自柯林斯例句
5. NATO remains the United States' chief institutional anchor in Europe.
