▪ I. chief, n.
(tʃiːf)
Forms: 3–4 chef, (chiue), 4–7 chefe, cheif, (5 cheyff, cheef(f, chif(e, chyfe), 5–6 cheffe, chyef, 6–7 cheefe, chiefe, 4– chief.
[ME. chef, chief, a. OF. chef, chief (= Pr. cap, Sp. cabo, It. capo head):—Rom. type *capu-m:—L. caput head.]
I. Proper and transf. material senses.
† 1. lit. The head (of the body). Obs. rare.
(The first quot. is doubtful.)
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 9513 The ferth he tok on the chiue, And carf him ato biliue. a 1535 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. (1852) 901 [Membres longyng to Mannes Body], the heed or chyfe, le chief. |
† 2. The head, top, upper end (of anything). Obs.
| c 1400 Mandeville xx. 217 At the chief of the Halle, is the Emperours throne. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1663 In the cheffe of þe choise halle..Was a grounde vp graid with gresis of Marbill. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. ix, Opon the chefe of hur cholle, A padok prykette on a polle. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov., Where bene the nosegayes that she dight for thee? The coloured chaplets wrought with a chiefe. |
3. Her. The head or principal part of the escutcheon, occupying the upper third of the shield, and divided from the rest by a line which may be straight, indented, embattled, wavy, etc. on a chief, † in (the) chief: borne on this ordinary. in chief: borne on or occupying the upper part of the shield, within the limits of this ordinary, though no chief is marked off.
| a 1440 Sir Degrev. 1029 He beres in cheef of azour Engrelyd with a satur With doubule tressour And treweloves bytwene. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xvii. 19 The lorde William Duglas..bare azure a cheffe syluer. Ibid. lx, His baner..was goules, a sheffe syluer, thre cheuorns in the sheffe. 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 30 b, There maye be also borne in chiefe, diuerse tokens of armes, and yet the chief not altered in colour from the field. 1622 Peacham Compl. Gent. iii. (1634) 143. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. ii, And in chief three mullets stood The cognizance of Douglas blood. 1864 Boutell Heraldry Hist. & Pop. xiv. 171 The Helm always rests upon the Chief of the Shield. |
† 4. A head of discourse, a heading. Obs. rare.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Argt., A Generall Muster of the Bodies Griefes, The Soules Diseases, vnder sundry Chiefes. |
† 5. An end (of a bandage). Obs. rare.
| 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg., This is done with rolles of one chyef or dyuers chyefs, or armes, begynnynge vpon the hurt place. |
II. Transferred and figurative senses.
6. a. The head of a body of men, of an organization, state, town, party, office, etc.; foremost authority, leader, ruler.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 212 Þo þe Romeyns were wyþ out chef, dyscomfortd hii were. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 57 Wan any auerous or couetous is canonizid..or maad cheef. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3662 To chese hom a cheftayn to be chefe of þem all. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 399 She was made abbesse and chyef of al the monasterye. 1526 Tindale Luke xi. 15 By the power of Belzebub, the chefe of the deuyls. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 288 The king sayde to Syr Gualtier Maury, I will that ye be chiefe of this enterprise. 1611 Bible Num. iii. 30 The chiefe of the house of the..Kohathites shalbe Elizaphan. 1666–7 Pepys Diary 20 Feb., A French⁓man come to be chief of some part of the King's musique. 1791 Burke in Corr. (1844) III. 202 The chief of every monarchical party must be the monarch himself. 1841–4 Emerson Ess. Nom. & Realist Wks. (Bohn) I. 253 Hence the immense benefit of party in politics, as it reveals faults of character in a chief. 1850 Thackeray Pendennis xxiii, The chief of the kitchen, Monsieur Mirobolant. |
b. spec. The head man or ruler of a clan, tribe, or small primitive community. big or great white chief: a jocular name (modelled on the speech of American Indians) given to a person of authority or importance. Cf. great (white) father (s.v. great a. 12 h).
| 1587 Sc. Acts (1597) §94 Clannes..dependis vpon the directiones of the saidis Captaines, chiefes, and chieftaines. 1695 C. Leslie Gallienus Rediv. 9 He gives these Directions to Collonel Hill. Till we see what is done by the Chiefs, it is not time to Receive their Tenants. 1713 Pope Windsor For. 405 And naked youths and painted chiefs admire Our speech, our colour, and our strange attire. 1809 Campbell Gertr. Wyom. ad fin., The death-song of an Indian chief! 1814 Scott Wav. xxii, Proud chiefs of Clan Ranald, Glengarry, and Sleat! [1835 W. G. Simms Yemassee I. 95 Does the white chief come to the great council of the Yemassee as a fur trader?] 1841 Macaulay Ess., W. Hastings (1853) 95 Their chiefs, when united by a common peril, could bring eighty thousand men into the field. 1937 M. Allingham Dancers in Mourning xxvi. 315, I see a chap who is a sort of great white chief in his own little world. 1939 Wodehouse Uncle Fred iii. 43 ‘Was that Aunt Jane I saw going off in the car?’ ‘That was the Big White Chief.’ 1949 E. Coxhead Wind in West ii. 37 You've actually seen the Great White Chief. Jove, what an experience. |
c. A chief or superior officer: the head of any department; one's superior in office.
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xii. 93 Farewell great Chiefe. Shall I strike now? 1667 Milton P.L. i. 566 Warriers..A waiting what Command their mighty Chief Had to impose. 1733 Pope Hor. Sat. ii. i. 126 Chiefs out of war, and States⁓men out of place. 1796–7 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 102 The chief of the squadron..gives the general caution..and the leaders of divisions give their words of execution. 1853 G. J. Whyte-Melville Digby Grand xix, Our old chief..has been appointed to a command in India. 1888 Mowbray Morris Claverhouse iv. 67 In the report Lord Evandale makes to his chief. |
d. The Chief Engineer, or Lieutenant-Commander, in a (war)ship (see also quot. 1929). Naut. colloq.
| 1894 Kipling Seven Seas (1896) 153 He's Chief of the Maori Line. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Stand By! 18 Next comes the engineer-lieutenant-commander, or the ‘chief’, as we call him. 1929 F. C. Bowen Sea Slang 26 Chief, the Chief Engineer as a rule, though loosely applied, more and more frequently to mates in the Merchant Service and petty officers and others in the Navy. 1942 G. Hackforth-Jones One-One-One xi. 104 ‘Chief,’ he called down the voice-pipe to the engine-room, ‘Knock her up to full speed or I'll come down and stoke myself.’ 1946 ― Sixteen Bells xiii. 230 It was the custom of her Chief, an Engineer Commander of many years' standing, to enjoy an afternoon's caulk. |
7. Of things personified.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 29281 (Cott.) Hali kirke o rome..þat crist..has in erth leued o cristen-dome for cheif and heued. 1426 Audelay Poems 8 Thou most have fayth, hope, and charyté..then charyté he is the chif. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 102 Many lesser Faculties that serve Reason as chief. |
† 8. The head town or city; the capital. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22097 (Cott.) Þis tun was quilum chefe [v.r. chef, cheef, chief] o pers. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 164 Whan Rome was the worldes chefe. c 1400 Mandeville v. 35 Surrye of the whiche the cytee of Damasc was chief. |
† 9. The best part; the height, the prime. Obs. or arch. (Cf. chief a. 7.)
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xx. xiv. (1845) 97 The chefe is gone of all thy melody, Whose beauty clere made moost swete armony. 1535 Coverdale Ps. civ. [cv.] 35 He smote all y⊇ first borne in their londe, euen the chefe of all their substance. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. (Arb.) 36 Euen in the chiefe of his youth he was taken from schole into the Courte. 1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bath ii. 12 The cheefe of Sommer. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 270 By some corruption of the air, whereunto Rome in the chief of Summer is much subject. |
† 10. Chief position, first place, eminence, excellency.
(The meaning of the Shakespeare passage is disputed.)
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 281 He wanne the chieffe at euery game, victor palmam abstulit. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iii. 74 (Qo 1) And they of France of the chiefe rancke and station Are of a most select and generall chiefe in that. Ibid. (Qo 2, 3, 4) And they in Fraunce of the best ranck and station Or of a most select and generous chiefe [cheefe] in that. Ibid. (Fol. 1) Are of a most select and generous cheff in that. |
11. Short for chief-rent (see 13).
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 518 The lead mine named Antimonianum..which paid in old time but a chiefe of ten pound weight. 1625 F. Markham Bk. Hon., Let. to King 2 But to the immortall and only true God of Heauen and Earth you pay no Chiefes or Acknowledgements. 1795 J. Aikin Manchester 258 A 999 year lease, at the small chief of a shilling per ann. 1868 Rogers Pol. Econ. xiv. 200 An all but universal custom in Lancashire of letting building-sites on what is called chief, that is at a perpetual ground-rent. |
12. Phrase. in chief. a. Feudal Law [med.L. in capite, F. en chief]. Applied to a tenant holding, or tenure held, immediately from the Lord Paramount, as when a tenant held directly from the king, rendering to him personally the service belonging to the tenure. Hence, by extension, applied to tenancy by a perpetual feu-duty or ground-rent, as opposed to a lease for a limited period.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9691 No man, that of the kinge hulde ouȝt In chef, other in eni seruise. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 154 Gyff thow will hald in cheyff off me For euirmar, and thine ofspryng, I sall do swa thow sall be king. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 48 §1 The same Castelles..be holden of your Highnes in Chief as of youre Crowne. 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 5 §5 Manours..holden of the kinge by knightes seruice in chiefe. 1607 Davies 1st Let. Earl Salisbury (1787) 236 He hath yet allotted to him..in demesne, and in chief, ten ballibetaghs or thereabouts. a 1700 Dryden Cleomenes Ep. Ded., Proud to hold my dependence on you in chief, as I do part of my small fortune in Wiltshire. |
b. In the chief or highest place or position. Often in titles, as Commander-in-Chief, Colonel-in-Chief, etc.
| 1607–12 Bacon Ess. Of Great Place (Arb.) 286 Thinke it more honor, to direct in chiefe, then to be busie in all. 1618 Chapman Hesiod i. 542 Call thy friend In chief one near. 1653 Holcroft Procopius i. 17 Sittas..commanded the Armenian Army in cheif. c 1670 J. Gordon Hist. Scots Affairs iv. xxxix, They coulde not agree who should be commander in cheefe. a 1680 Butler Elephant in Moon 27 When one, who for his deep belief Was Virtuoso then in chief. 1866 Mrs. Oliphant Madonna Mary (Hoppe) Nelly Askell whom Will had appropriated..as his sympathizer-in-chief. 1885 Whitaker's Almanack 152 Department of the Officer Commanding-in-Chief..Commanding-in-Chief, Field-Marshal H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, K.G. Ibid. 156, 1st Life Guards..Colonel-in-Chief, H.R.H. Prince of Wales. |
c. Chiefly; mainly, principally.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 220 Some speech of marriage..which was broke off..in chiefe For that her reputation was dis-valued In leuitie. 1855 Browning Old Pictures in Florence, 'Twixt the aloes I used to lean in chief. |
13. attrib. and Comb.: † chief-pledge, a borrow-head, head-borough; chief-rent, a rent paid under a tenure in chief; now = quit-rent; chief-tenant, a tenant in chief: cf. 12 a. See also chief a. 1.
| [1292 Britton i. xxx. §4 Si touz les chefs pleges soint venuz a la veuwe; transl. whether all the headboroughs are come to the view.] 1619 Dalton Country Just. i. (1630) 3 There be other officers of much like authority to our constables, as the borsholders in Kent, the thirdborow in Warwickshire, and the tythingman and burrowhead or headborow, or chiefe-pledge in other places. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 11 The lorde may haue a fre holder that holdeth his lande of hym & payeth hym chefe rentes and other seruyce. 1617 J. Moore Mappe Mans Mortalitie iii. v. 209 Forgetting his homage to God, and chiefe-rent of obedience. 1767 Blackstone Comm. II. 42 Those of the freeholders are frequently called chief rents..and both sorts are denominated quit rents..because thereby the tenant goes quit and free of all other services. |
▸ colloq. As an informal form of address to a man or boy.
| 1927 Bulletin (Glasgow) 15 Apr. 12/1 ‘Well your little playmate certainly queered things,’ he said. Thorn shrugged. ‘I'm sorry, chief; but I couldn't help it. You saw how he horned in.’ 1951 J. D. Salinger Catcher in Rye xiii. 119 How old are you, chief? 1973 Sunday Bull. (Philadelphia) 14 Oct. (Discover Suppl.) 13/3 Let the primer dry completely (check product directions). Now, chief, you are ready to paint. 2004 A. Reynolds Century Rain v. 45 ‘Thanks for the warning, chief,’ he said to the boy. |
▪ II. chief, a. and quasi-adv.
(tʃiːf)
Forms: 3–4 chef, 4– chief; also 4–6 chefe, cheef, (5 chif, chiff(e, chyf(e, cheyf, scheff), 5–6 cheff(e, 5–7 cheefe, cheif, (6 chieffe, chyefe), 6–7 cheife, cheiffe, chiefe.
[f. prec.: originally the substantive used in apposition or attributively.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of persons: That is formally the chief or head; standing at the head; taking the first place; = head-. Used in many official designations, etc., as Chief Baron, Chief Constable, Chief Engineer, Chief Justice, Chief Rabbi, Chief Secretary, etc.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 15 Sir Egbriht, our chefe kyng. c 1340 Cursor M. 4434 (Fairf.) Þe maister chefe iailer [earlier MSS. maister jailere]. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3841 I schal..mak him my chef stiward to stiȝtli all my godes. 138. Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 36 Siche cheefe lordis þat han not above hem anoþir cheef lord. 1473 J. Warkworth Chron. 26 Bodrygan scheff reulere of Cornwayle. c 1525 Elegy Hen. VIII's Fool in Halliwell Nugæ Poet. 45 Ye as chefe moerner yn your own folys hode. 1530 Palsgr. 204 Chefe baron of the Eschequer, chefe capitayne, etc. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 172 That the king of Englande ought of right to be their chiefe head and sovereigne. 1685 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 361 Paul Ricaut, esq., chief secretary to his excellency the lord lieutenant of Ireland. 1758 J. Blake Plan Mar. Syst. 21 The following officers shall be exempted..viz. the chief-mate, the boatswain, and carpenter. 1818 Cruise Digest VI. 503 Argued before Lord Chancellor Nottingham, assisted by the Chief Justices North and Pemberton, and Lord Ch. Baron Montague. 1840 Carlyle Heroes (1858) 365 Chief-consulship, Emperorship, victory over Europe. 1861 in G. B. McClellan Own Story (1886) v. 83, I have on the staff..Barnard as chief-engineer. 1876 Geo. Eliot Let. 2 Sept. in J. W. Cross Life (1885) III. xviii. 256 A letter..from Dr. Hermann Adler, the Chief Rabbi here. 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. II. xix. 101 The chief-engineer of the vessel had entered my state-room. 1932 C. Roth Hist. Marranos iii. 60 Simon Maimi, the last Ar-rabi-Mor, or Chief Rabbi of Portugal. |
† b. Of things: Highest in rank, capital, head-.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4758 An chyrche he lete rere, In Est end of Kanterbury, þat þe chef chyrche were. c 1305 St. Kenelm in E.E.P. (1862) 49 Of al his lond þe chief Cite. c 1340 Cursor M. 10010 (Trin.) Þat are foure vertues principales Whiche men callen cardinales. Alle oþere vertues of hem han holde, Þer-fore þei are for cheef Itolde. 138. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 16 Aȝenst þe chifwerk of gostly mercy. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 23 Thre chefe chambers. a 1541 Wyatt Poet. Wks. (1861) 54 Thou thyself dost cast thy beams from high From thy chief house. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 88 Vienna, which is the chiefe Citie of the Countrie. 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 157 Creuznach, the chief town, is situated on both banks of the Nahe. |
2. † chief father: first ancestor, first parent; = ME. form-fader. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 684 Habraham..chosen to be chef chyldryn fader. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. iii. 92 Schyr Dardanus..Our cheif fader. |
3. At the head or top in importance; most important, influential, or active; principal, foremost, greatest: a. of persons.
| 138. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 172 Of alle wicked men weiward prestis ben chiff whanne þei turne to cursednesse. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 71 Chefe or princypale, precipuus. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxxiii. 253 Syr bartram Cleykyn that was chefe maker and cause of the werre. 1633 Marmyon Fine Companion iii. iii, The cheefe and only mouer of yovr loue. 1828 Hawthorne Fanshawe i. (1879) 15 A very dear friend..who in his early manhood had been his chief intimate. 1882 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 23 Archbishop Cranmer being his chief supporter. |
b. of things.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 469 Holycherche chief help & chiftaigne of þe comune. c 1440 York Myst. xix. 23 And my cheffe helpe is he. c 1546 Langley Pol. Verg. De Invent. iv. ix. 97 a, To haue the chief stroke in all ceremonies. 1569 J. Rogers Gl. Godly Loue 186 Children are their Parents cheefe joy. 1661 Boyle Spring of Air Pref. (1682) 5 It was not my cheif design. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 168 O Son, in whom my soul hath chief delight. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 203 ¶12 Hope is the chief blessing of man. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 51 The man who took the chief part in settling the conditions. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 133 The chief difficulty in adopting such a new metal. |
4. More loosely: Belonging to the highest group or first rank; ‘of the first order’ (J.), prominent, leading. In this relative use, formerly often compared chiefer, chiefest; see 8. a. of persons.
| c 1440 York Myst. xxv. 94, I shall declare playnly his comyng To the chiffe of the Jewes. 1536 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 48 The cheiffe peeres of the realme following the Kinge. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 119 The king of Scottes did hang foure hundreth of the cheefe doers. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xl. 252 Any Aristocracy of the chief Princes of the People. c 1785 Burns Answ. Ep. of Tailor, He's rank'd amang the chief O' lang-syne saunts. 1882 Shorthouse J. Inglesant xxx, All the chief among the Cardinals. |
b. of things.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 11 For love drunke is the mischefe Above all other the moste chefe. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clxii. 200 Alwayes in the chyefe of the batayle [au plus fort de la bataille]. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. vi. 58 The first, of all your chiefe affaires. 1631–3 High Commission Cases (1886) 321 This goeth as a cheife story amongst them. a 1745 Swift Wks. (1841) II. 71 A short account of the chief crimes they have committed. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 552 A chief object of the expedition. |
† 5. Pre-eminent in excellence; best, finest; choice. Obs.
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 283 He hath the chieffe game, where so euer he goeth, victor est omnium certaminum. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. v. 12 The cheefe perfections of that louely Dame. 1611 Bible Amos vi. 6 Anoint themselues with the chiefe ointments. 1651 Fuller Abel Rediv., Colet (1867) I. 116 His chief companion was ever some chief book. 1660 Sharrock Vegetables 28 The light colours are they that are chief for choice. |
6. Sc. Intimate (as friends). Cf. the dial. great, thick. Apparently connected with the Biblical use in Prov. xvi. 28 (1611) ‘A whisperer separateth chiefe friends’, where the Heb. word means ‘familiars, intimates’.
| 1530 Palsgr. 424, I am cheife a counsayle with one; I am moste aboute hym..he is cheife a counsayle with hym. 1879 Jamieson s.v., They're very chief wi' ane anither. |
| Mod.Sc. You and he are rather chief. |
7. absol. or elliptically. See also chief n. 9. a. pl. Chief people.
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 131 Neither Maior, nor Alderman, nor other of the chiefe of the Citie. 1597 Bacon Coulers of Good & Evill ii. (Arb.) 140 In the northern climate the wits of chief are greater. 1612 W. Shute tr. Fougasses' Hist. Venice 4 Divers of the cheefe of Padua. 1707 Hearne Collect. 9 Aug., One of y⊇ chief who formerly got him turn'd by a Fellowship. |
b. The main part; the most; the bulk.
| 1833 Marryat P. Simple xlviii, The disasters occasioned by this hurricane were very great, owing to its having taken place at night, when the chief of the inhabitants were in bed and asleep. |
8. Compared as chiefer, chiefest.
As the word was weakened in force from the meaning of ‘head’ or ‘supreme’ absolutely, to that of ‘leading’, comparison of relative position became possible; and thus a comparative chiefer occurs, and much more frequently a superlative chiefest, the latter very common in the 16th and 17th c., and still frequent in literary use.
† a. compar. Obs.
| 1553 Bale Gardiner's Obed. F viij, That they might be taken for chief, yea, and chiefer than the chiefest. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. 269 The Master may imploy his paines principally amongst the chiefer; as the Vsher doth amongst the lower. |
b. superl.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 12418 He was chosyn..chevest of councell. 1535 Coverdale Mark xii. 29 The chefest commaundement of all commaundementes is. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 72 b, The cheefest time of planting..is the end of Sommer. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 59 We giue vnto God the cheefest stroke and the cheefest rule in all things. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. ii. 12 Within their chiefest Temple. 1611 Bible Mark x. 44 Who⁓soeuer of you will bee the chiefest [Wycl., Rhem. first, Tindale, etc. chefe]. 1689 Selden Table T. (Arb.) 82 Patience is the chiefest fruit of Study. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. xiv. 387 The Chinese are the chiefest merchants. 1699 Ibid. II. ii. iv. 112 About which they spend the chiefest of their time. 1708 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. iii. (1743) 279 There are six penny-post offices: the chiefest is in Threadneedle Street. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xl, The Grave shall bear the chiefest prize away. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Montaigne Wks. (Bohn) I. 339 Culture will instantly destroy that chiefest beauty of spontaneousness. |
9. chief good, † chiefest good: used to translate Lat. summum bonum.
| 1663 Cowley Verses & Ess. (1669) 117 When Epicurus to the World had taught, That pleasure was the cheifest Good. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 493 As their chief good. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. i. i. 2 Desires after some one Chiefest Good. 1729 Butler Serm. xiv. Wks. 1874 II. 193 Knowledge..cannot be the chief good of man. 1806 A. Knox Rem. I. 31 Reason..informed the heathen sages that there was a chief good of man. 1869 M. Arnold Cult. & An. (1882) 212 A good in itself, one of the chiefest of goods. |
B. as adv. a. Chiefly, principally. arch.
| a 1553 Udall Roister D. iii. v. (Arb.) 57 Sweete mistresse, where as I loue you..chiefe of all For your personage, beautie, demeanour and witte. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis i. (1880) 17 But chiefe through Iunoes long fostred deadlye reuengment. 1671 Milton Samson 754 Not truly penitent, but chief to try Her husband. 1715–20 Pope Iliad xiv. 291 Me chief he sought. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc v. 407 But chief where in the town The six great avenues meet. 1840 Browning Sordello ii. (1868) 73 And chief, that earnest April morn Of Richard's Love-court, was it time. |
b. So chiefest.
| 1632 Milton Penseroso 51 But first and chiefest with thee bring Him that yon soars on golden wing. 1811 Heber Hymn, ‘Hosannah, etc.’, But chiefest, in our cleansèd breast, Eternal, bid Thy Spirit rest. |