How to say “chief” in 38 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- jefe/ˈxefe/ Spanish
- മുഖ്യ/muk(ʰ)jɐ/ Malayalam
- шеф[ʃɛf] Ukrainian
- مہر/meː.ɦəɾ/ Urdu
“chief” in Spanish: jefe · Portuguese: chefe
It is commonest in Spanish, where jefe is the 356th most used word.
Chief in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans hoofman/ˈɦʊə̯f.man/ chief, chieftain, leader, ringleader #1,317
- Arabic رئيس/ra.ʔiːs/ boss, chief, leader #309
- Armenian առաջնորդ/ɑrɑt͡ʃʰˈnoɾtʰ/ leader, chief #1,737
- Bengali প্রধান/pɾod̪ʱan/ main, chief, head, principal #438
- Bosnian glavni/ɡlǎʋniː/ main, chief, principal #730
- Bulgarian началник[nɐˈt͡ʃa̟ɫnik] chief, commander, head man #1,384
- Croatian glavni/ɡlǎʋniː/ main, chief, principal #743
- Czech šéfe/ˈʃeːfe/ boss, chief #784
- Dutch baas/baːs/ boss, chief, superior #495
- English captain/ˈkæp.tən/ A chief or leader #537
- Esperanto ĉefo/ˈt͡ʃefo/ #1,175
- Estonian pealik/ˈpeɑ̯lik/ chief, leader #1,272
- Finnish johtaja/ˈjohtɑjɑ/ leader, commander, chief #1,018
- Galician mor[mɔɾ] head; chief; main #2,393
- Georgian მთავარი[mtʰäväɾi] main, chief, principal, head #1,349
- German chef[ʃɛf] boss, chief #1,006
- Greek διοικητής/ði.i.kiˈtis/ chief administrator, governor #2,317
- Hindi अध्यक्ष/əd̪ʱ.jəkʂ/ chairman, head, chief, president #881
- Hungarian főnök[ˈføːnøk] chief, boss #431
- Icelandic foringi[ˈfɔːriɲcɪ] chief, commander #1,061
- Indonesian ketua/kəˈtua/ chief, leader, headman #975
- Italian capo/ˈka.po/ boss, chief, leader #338
- Latvian galvenais/ˈɡallʋænais/ main, chief, primary, key #664
- Lithuanian viršininkas[²ˈʋʲɪrʲˑʃʲɪnʲɪŋkɐs] head, chief, boss #1,170
- Macedonian главен[ˈɡɫavɛn] main, chief, cardinal #830
- Malay ketua[kə.tu.wə] A chief, leader or head man #427
- Malayalam മുഖ്യ/muk(ʰ)jɐ/ #1,572
- Norwegian sjefen/ˈʃeːfən/ chief, boss, head #744
- Portuguese chefe/ˈʃɛ.fi/ chief, head, head man, boss #396
- Romanian principal/prin.t͡ʃiˈpal/ principal, primary, chief, foremost #1,596
- Russian шеф[ʂɛf] boss, chief #1,141
- Serbian glavni/ɡlǎʋniː/ main, chief, principal #745
- Spanish jefe/ˈxefe/ chief; president; head; leader of a business,… #356
- Tagalog pinuno/piˈnunoʔ/ chief; official; officer; leader #602
- Tamil தலைவர்/t̪ɐlɐɪ̯ʋɐɾ/ leader, chief, lord #226
- Ukrainian шеф[ʃɛf] chief, head, boss #1,606
- Urdu مہر/meː.ɦəɾ/ #1,318
- Vietnamese sếp[sep̚˧˦] chief; boss #501
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.