Chieftain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the British tank, see Chieftain tank. For the opera by Arthur Sullivan, see The Chieftain For the band, see The Chieftains
"Bahman" redirects here. For Bahman Ghassemzadeh, see Bahman.
A chieftain is the leader or head of a group, especially of a clan or tribe.
The Irish Gaelic word Taoiseach, means a clann chief or leader. Some historians suggest that in ancient Ireland (whence these terms originate), a taoiseach was a minor king. In Scottish Gaelic; tòiseach translates as clan chief and both words originally had similar meaning in the Goidelic languages of Scotland and Ireland. The related Welsh language word tywysog appears to have had a similar meaning.See Tribal Chief.
Etymology: Middle English cheftain, from Old French chevetain, from Late Latin capitaneus, from Latin caput, head. In other words, it is related to the contemporary word captain.
See Captain; Chief; Sachem, Village head.
