[f. CHIEF + -SHIP.] The office and function of chief.
1783. Burke, Affairs of India, Wks. XI. 193. Mr. Nicholas Grueber, who preceded Mr. Barwell in the chiefship of Dacca.
1859. Tennent, Ceylon, II. X. ii. 625. The chiefship of the district has been ever since in the same family.
1878. N. Amer. Rev., 206. A recognized chiefship in the ministry.
