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, Proven?al 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.
雙語例句
1. The programme of sell-offs has been implemented by the new chief executive.
新任總裁已經執行了拋售方案。
來自柯林斯例句
2. The Chief Constable's clipped tones crackled over the telephone line.
電話線那頭噼里啪啦地傳來警察局長短促的聲音。
來自柯林斯例句
3. In the squash court his chief aim is to flatten me.
在壁球場上他的主要目標就是擊敗我。
來自柯林斯例句
4. Their chief negotiator turned his critical eye on the United States.
他們的首席談判代表以批判的眼光看美國。
來自柯林斯例句
5. NATO remains the United States' chief institutional anchor in Europe.