1. (n.) The head or leader of any body of men; a commander, as of an army; a head man, as of a tribe, clan, or family; a person in authority who directs the work of others; the principal actor or agent.
2. (n.) The principal part; the most valuable portion.
3. (n.) The upper third part of the field. It is supposed to be composed of the dexter, sinister, and middle chiefs.
4. (a.) Highest in office or rank; principal; head.
5. (a.) Principal or most eminent in any quality or action; most distinguished; having most influence; taking the lead; most important; as, the chief topic of conversation; the chief interest of man.
6. (a.) Very intimate, near, or close.
Thesaurus Entries
A per se, Big Brother, ace, achievement, acmatic, alerion, all-absorbing, animal charge, annulet, anointed king, antecedent, anterior, apical, arch, argent, armorial bearings, armory, arms, ascendant, at the head, auditor, azure, bandeau, banner, bar, bar sinister, baton, bearings, bend, bend sinister, big cheese, big wheel, big-timer, bigwig, billet, blazon, blazonry, boatswain, bordure, boss, broad arrow, bwana, cadency mark, canton, capital, captain, cardinal, central, champion, chaplet, charge, chef, chevron, chieftain, church dignitary, coat of arms, cock, cockatrice, commander, commanding, comptroller, consequential, consummate, controller, controlling, coronet, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, crown, crowned head, crowning, dean, device, dictator, difference, differencing, dignitary, directing, directive, directorial, directory, dominant, doyen, doyenne, duce, dynast, eagle, ecclesiarch, effective, elder, electronics king, eminence, emperor, employer, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, essential, exordial, falcon, fess, fess point, field, file, first, first and foremost, flanch, fleur-de-lis, floor manager, floorman, floorwalker, focal, fore, foregoing, forehand, foreman, foremost, forward, fret, front, frontal, fugleman, fuhrer, fur, fusil, gaffer, ganger, garland, general, genius, goodman, governing, governor, grand duke, great, greatest, griffin, guiding, gules, guru, gyron, hatchment, head, heading, headman, headmost, hegemonic, hegemonistic, helmet, heraldic device, hierarch, high chief, high priest, higher-up, highest, himself, honcho, honor point, husband, impalement, impaling, imperator, important, important person, in ascendancy, in charge, in chief, in the ascendant, inescutcheon, initiatory, inspector, key, king, king-emperor, kingfish, kinglet, kingpin, label, laureate, lead, leader, leading, leading light, liege, liege lord, lion, lord, lord paramount, lozenge, luminary, magisterial, maiden, main, majesty, major, man, manager, managerial, managing, mantling, marshaling, martlet, mascle, master, master spirit, maximal, maximum, meridian, meridional, metal, momentous, monarch, monitor, motto, mullet, nombril point, noncommissioned officer, nonpareil, notability, number one, octofoil, or, ordinary, orle, outstanding, overlord, overman, overmost, overriding, overruling, overseer, padrone, pale, paly, paragon, paramount, paterfamilias, patriarch, patron, pean, personage, petty king, pheon, potent, potentate, precedent, preceding, precessional, precursory, predominant
