chieferies

Noun

chiefery (countable and uncountable, plural chieferies)

1. The status or role of a chief; chieftainship.
   • "Then those lands in the County of Cavan which was O'Rilie's country are all holden of the King ; and because the captainship or chiefery of O'Rilie is abolished by act of Parliament by Stat. 2d of Elizabeth, and also because, two of the chief lords elected by the country have been lately slain in...1802, Sir Charles Coote, Statistical survey of the County of Cavan

   Synonyms:

   chieftainship

2. The land ruled over by a chief; chieftainship.
   • I have said that Tautira was a large and powerful chiefery on the eastern side of the peninsula Taiarapu, which was balanced by Teahupoo, another large chiefery at the southern end.1901, Henry Adams, Tahiti: Memoirs of Arii Taimai, page 23

   Synonyms:

   chieftainship

3. The form of government in which people are ruled by a chief.
   • The conquest of new territories made it possible for the Zarma society to settle in hamlets and develop a political organization that assumed the characteristics of a chiefery.1979, Bernardo Berdichewsky, Anthropology and Social Change in Rural Areas, →ISBN, page 63
4. A colonial administrative centre.
   • After dinner at the chiefery we assembled on the courtyard veranda to hear the singing of the Papara himeme chorus.1911, The Overland Monthly, page 25
5. The leaders or chiefs of a people, collectively.
   • If, as seems certain, the Hui Arii contingent intermarried with the local chiefery, this acceptance of the gods of the land would have been inevitable.1971, Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin - Issue 79, (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 17
6. (historical) An Irish head tax
   • By procuring his Majesty to release to several Irish papists, some whereof were deeply engaged in the horrid rebellion of that kingdom, the chiefery's or head-rents reserved to the crown, out of the forfeited estates of papists Papists there, being a principal part of his majesty's revenue in that...1741, A Collection of the Parliamentary Debates in England, from the Year 1055, page 60