Obs. [f. CHIEF a. + -NESS.] The chief quality; supremacy, superiority.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 403. Þen ony state gretter nowherellys to bere, Of cheffenesse or of heyȝe governyng.
1662. Fuller, Worthies, vi. 18 (D.). Accounted the Principall, but … Their chiefnesse was Penes Regis Arbitrium.
