English

Noun

jefe ‎(plural jefes)

1. (US, informal) An officer with political influence; a head or chief in government, such as a sheriff.
   • 1887, Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Central America, page 153, History Company

     Antonio Rivera Cabezas was chosen vice-jefe in March 1830.

   • 1898, Southern Pacific Company Passenger Department, Sunset, Sunset Magazines Inc. (1912), pages 313-314

     before he stepped forward uttering the stereotyped greeting, the Texan had put him down as the jefe or head man....

     Snatching up the rifle he lit out after the jefe, who had left two jumps ahead of the smoke.

   • 1900, United States War Department, Annual Reports of the War Department, U.S. Government Printing Office

     Hilario Saño, a suspect, resident here but much doubted by the jefe local, was put to the test

2. (US) A boss in a business, company, or other organization.
   • 1982 January, George Durham, Taming the Nueces Strip: The Story of McNelly's Rangers, page 120, University of Texas Press

     “They ain’t going to deliver the cattle across.... They’ve taken too much of a beating as it is. They’ve lost their big jefe and lots of men.”

   • 1998 June, Thomas Miller Klubock, Contested communities: Class, Gender, and Politics in Chile's El Teniente Copper Mine, 1904-1948, page 147, Duke University Press

     When they were slacking off in the mine, for example, and a jefe arrived unexpectedly, they shouted loro (parrot) or fuego (fire) as warning signals.

   • 2004 December, Jeffrey Harris Cohen, The Culture of Migration in Southern Mexico, University of Texas Press

     A jefe in this sense is a mentor, a person who is often a compadre of the migrant.... In any case, a jefe is not a loan shark

   • 2005 May, Monica Rico, EMails that Go Nowhere, Google Mail.

     A jefe in this sense refers to a true boss, the leader of the household, also known as Jose Rico.

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:jefe.

Spanish

Alternative forms

• gefe (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxefe/
• See also: fleje

Etymology

Borrowing from French chef, from Latin caput. Compare Portuguese chefe. Doublet of cabo.

Noun

jefe m ‎(plural jefes, feminine jefa)

1. chief; president; head; leader of a business, political party, or other organization
2. boss; supervisor; manager
3. (military) colonel; major; rank between captain and general
4. (heraldry) chief
5. (colloquial, Mexico) dad, father

Synonyms

• superior m

Antonyms

• subalterno m
• subordinado m

Related terms

• cabeza f
• cabo m
• capataz m
• capitán m
• chef m

Derived terms

• jefatura f
• subjefe m

See also

• sargento m
• coronel m
• general m
• director m
• supervisor m

Anagrams

• feje m