領頭的人
這一族是把「頭」當成具體的人：站在群體頂端、發號施令的那一位，從部落酋長到公司最高主管都是。
a tribal leader · noun · B2
The leader or ruler of a tribe.
酋長
核心畫面
Picture the one figure standing at the head of the group — the head of the tribe, the one everyone else looks to. From that single 'person at the top' image, the word spreads two ways: to other top people (the boss of a company), and to a quality of things — being the top one, the main, most important.
可以想成：站在整群人最前頭的那一個——部落的頭領，大家都看著他。從這個「站在頂端的人」的畫面，這個詞往兩邊長：一邊變…更多收起
可以想成：站在整群人最前頭的那一個——部落的頭領，大家都看著他。從這個「站在頂端的人」的畫面，這個詞往兩邊長：一邊變成別種「最高位的人」（公司的最高主管），一邊變成形容事物的性質——居首、最主要、最重要的。From the word’s history
From Old French 'chief' / 'chef' meaning 'head', from Latin 'caput' (head). The leader is literally the 'head' of the group, which grounds both 'the top person' and 'the main / topmost' adjective.
源自古法語 chief / chef「頭」，再往上到拉丁語 caput（頭部）。領袖字面上就是一群人的「頭」，這同時撐起了「最高位的人」和「居首、最主要的」這個形容用法。
Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), 'chief'
Two branches
居首、最主要的
這一族是把「站在頂端」的畫面從人抽象成性質：不再指某個人，而是形容某樣東西在一堆裡居於最高、最主要的位置。
most important; main · adjective · B2
Most important; main.
主要的
原始詞典資料10 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Chiefname
- 1
A township in Mahnomen County, Minnesota, United States.
chiefnoun/t͡ʃiːf/
- 1
The leader or head of a tribe, organisation, business unit, or other group.
- In virtue of this privilege, in testimony of my affectionate respect for a revered chief, in conformity with what I believe to be the wish of all the Members of the scientific department, over which I have the honour to preside, and to perpetuate the memory of that illustrious master of accurate geographical research, I have determined to name this noble peak of the Himalayas ‘Mont Everest.’
- My father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a chief by both blood and custom.
- 2
Headship, the status of being a chief or leader.
- Bob is our troubleshooter in chief.
- 3
governmentheraldryhobbiesThe top part of a shield or escutcheon; more specifically, an ordinary consisting of the upper part of the field cut off by a horizontal line, generally occupying the top third.
- When the Chief is Charged with any figure, in blazon it is said to be "On a Chief".
- The shield was silver, charged with a red cross voided (that is, with the centre cut out and only the edges left), between in chief (that is, above the horizontal limb of the cross) two black dragon's wings, and in base two red daggers, and in the centre of the cross a black winged helmet; on a red chief (a broad band across the top of the shield), a silver pale (a broad vertical band), and thereon eight black arrows crossed X-wise, four and four, and encircled with a black band, between on the dexter three bendlets (narrow bands slanting from dexter chief to sinister base) enhanced (that is, raised above the centre), and on the sinister a fleur-de-lis, all of gold.
- 4
The principal part or top of anything.
- 5
An informal term of address.
- “How old are you, chief?” the elevator guy said.
- 6
offensiveAn informal term of address.
chiefadj/t͡ʃiːf/
- 1
Primary; principal.
- Negligence was the chief cause of the disaster.
- […] But when we find that they [volcanoes] are but few in Number, and the chiefeſt of thoſe too near the torrid Zone, and from their Tops to iſſue forth, now clear Fire, then thick, black Smoke, and ſometimes little or nothing at all; we muſt conclude, that they are only particular Fires, probably of the Sun’s kindling at firſt, and ſince continued by the caſual and incidental Applications of that Pabulum, which thoſe Part of the Earth adminiſter to them.
- 2
Intimate, friendly.
- 'You’re doing it because she was your friend, not because she was a parishioner, and certainly not because of the Declaratory Articles,' Macmurray said, pushing himself forward on his seat. 'Everybody knows how chief you and she were. It was an unfitting relationship for a minister while she was alive, and it is equally unfitting for you to do her a favour like this now she's dead.'
chiefverb/t͡ʃiːf/
- 1
slangTo smoke cannabis.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。