chefe

Forms

chefe m or f by sense (plural chefes, feminine (informal) chefa, feminine plural (informal) chefas)^[1] The first records spell it chefre (1545) and chefe (1547).^[2] An informal feminine chefa is also used.^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French chef (“head, leader”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The French word is from Old French chief, written chieef in the 9th century, from Vulgar Latin capus, an altered form of caput (“head”).^[2][6][7] Vieira (1871) stressed that it comes from the Latin word and not, as some had claimed, from the Greek word for “head”.^[8]

The inherited outcome of the Latin word in Portuguese is cabo.^[9][1] Spanish jefe and English chief were borrowed from French too.^[10] Corominas finds the Spanish word only from the 17th century.^[10]

The Latin noun goes back to *kaput, and is cognate with *haubud- “head”.^[11] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *káput (“head”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first records, chefre in 1545 and chefe in 1547, already have the sense of a person at the head of others.^[2] Cunha dates the word only to the 17th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) defines it as the head, the principal, as in os chefes da conjuração “the leaders of the conspiracy”, and gives the genealogical sense, the person with whom a family line began and his heirs in the eldest line, and the heraldic chief of a shield.^[13] He also quotes chefe d'obra for “masterpiece” from an edict of 1769, a gallicism the old Aulete calls needless.^[13][14] Vieira adds the military chefe de fila, the soldier at the head of each file, and chefe de família.^[8]

Modern use covers the boss of a firm or department, the chefe de Estado and, after French, the head cook of a restaurant.^[2][15][1] In familiar speech it is a way to address a man whose name one does not know.^[4][16][1] Tetum borrowed it as xefe.^[1]

Timeline

• 1545 – first record, spelt chefre.^[2]
• 1547 – the spelling chefe.^[2]
• 17th century – Cunha's first date.^[3]
• 1769 – chefe d'obra “masterpiece” in an edict, quoted by Morais.^[13]
• 1789 – Morais's dictionary records the genealogical and heraldic senses.^[13]
• 1871 – Vieira records chefe de fila and chefe de família.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A leader; the principal person among others.^[2][4][1]
2. A boss: the person who directs a firm, department or service: O chefe saiu mais cedo.^{[2][4][16][1]}
3. The holder of the highest office: chefe de Estado, chefe do governo.^[2][14]
4. The founder or head of a dynasty, clan or family.^[2][16]
5. A chef, the head cook of a restaurant.^[15][1]
6. (military) The soldier at the head of a file.^[15][8]
7. (heraldry) The chief, the upper third of a shield.^[15][1]
8. (informal) A form of address to a man whose name one does not know: Ó chefe, sabe onde fica a estação?^[4][16][1]

Word family

• chefia
• chefiar
• chefatura
• subchefe
• chefão
• chefete
• carro-chefe

Related words

• cabo
• French chef
• Spanish jefe
• Latin caput

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. chefe
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. chefe
4. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. chefe
5. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. chefe
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. chef
7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. chef
8. ^ a b c d Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 200
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. caput
10. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 503
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. caput
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. caput
13. ^ a b c d Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 264
14. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. chefe
15. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. chefe
16. ^ a b c d Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. chefe