Chevtaine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A female leader or chief; a woman who holds a position of authority or guidance within a group ; a woman who presides as the principal figure among her people
2. Referring to a woman elevated to the role of commander or head of a clan ; denoting a female who acts as the guiding authority or central leader
3. Identifying a woman with the power and responsibility of a chief ; designating a female who occupies a chief's position or exercises command over a community

Etymology: Before it became "chieftain," this was a head-of-the-army term in medieval France. The Old French "chevetaine" (also "chevetain") came from Late Latin "capitaneus," meaning "head man," from "caput," "head." English took the same Latin root twice: once through Old French as "chieftain," and once more directly as "captain," which makes the two a doublet pair. The sense was general and not gendered. It meant a leader of men, usually in war or a raiding band, and nothing in its history marks it as masculine, so the rule of thumb holds: a leader's gender was never built into the word. Applying it to a woman leading a group is a modern choice rather than something the word's own history supplies.