chairman
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Related to chairman: Chairman and CEO
chair·man
(châr′mən)n.
1. The presiding officer of an assembly, meeting, committee, or board.
2. The administrative head of a department of instruction, as at a college.
tr.v. chair·manned, chair·man·ning, chair·mans
To act as chairman of: chaired the panel of experts.
Usage Note: Words that end with the element -man include those that describe occupations (councilman, deliveryman, fireman) and societal rank (nobleman, workingman). These compounds sometimes generate controversy because they are considered sexist by some people who believe that -man necessarily excludes females. Others believe that -man, like the word man itself, is an accepted and efficient convention that is not meant to be gender-specific. This ongoing controversy is evident from our usage surveys. In the 2004 survey, 66 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the sentence The chairman will be appointed by the faculty senate, roughly the same percentage as in 1988, and 57 percent accepted Emily Owen, chairman of the mayor's task force, issued a statement assuring residents that their views would be solicited, a percentage that was actually higher than the 48 percent in the 1988 survey. Interestingly, -man words that denote types of behavior or skill (such as craftsmanship, sportsmanship, showmanship) are overwhelmingly acceptable to the Panel, suggesting that these words are much less likely to be seen as sexist. In our 2004 survey, the sentence The umpire ejected Rosie Falcon from the game for her unsportsmanlike conduct after her outburst in the second inning was acceptable to 95 percent of the Panelists. The acceptability of terms like unsportsmanlike and showmanship probably stems from the fact that these words do not refer to a representative man or generic human being—there is no person being referred to, just an ability. · For writers interested in avoiding -man compounds that have synonyms, alternatives include compounds employing -woman and -person, as in chairwoman and spokesperson, and more inclusive terms that avoid the gender-marked element entirely, such as chair for chairman, letter carrier for mailman, and first-year student for freshman. See Usage Note at man.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
chairman
(ˈtʃɛəmən)n, pl -men
1. Also called: chairperson or chairwoman (fem)a person who presides over a company's board of directors, a committee, a debate, an administrative department, etc
2. history someone who carries a sedan chair
ˈchairmanˌship n
Usage: Chairman can seem inappropriate when applied to a woman, while chairwoman can be offensive. Chair and chairperson can be applied to either a man or a woman; chair is generally preferred to chairperson
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
chair•man
(ˈtʃɛər mən)n., pl. -men, n.
1. the presiding officer of a meeting, committee, etc., or the head of a board or department.
2. someone employed to carry or wheel a person in a chair.
v.t. [1645–55]
chair′man•ship`, n.
usage: See -man.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
chair
– chairperson – chairman – chairwoman1. 'chair' and 'chairperson'
The person in charge of a meeting or organization is referred to as the chair, or sometimes the chairperson. These words can be used to refer to either a man or a woman.
This is Ruth Michaels, chairperson of the Women Returners' Network.
You should address your remarks to the chair.
2. 'chairman'
A chairman is a man who is in charge of a meeting or debate.
The vicar, full of apologies, took his seat as chairman.
The male head of an organization is often referred to as its chairman.
Sir John Hill, chairman of the Atomic Energy Authority, gave the opening speech.
3. 'chairwoman'
In the past, chairman was used to refer to both men and women, but it is now not often used to refer to a woman. The woman in charge of a meeting or organization is sometimes referred to as the chairwoman.
Margaret Downes is this year's chairwoman of the Irish Institute.
Siobhan is a BBC radio journalist, and chairwoman of The Scottish Ballet.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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| Noun | 1. |  chairman - the officer who presides at the meetings of an organization; "address your remarks to the chairperson"Kalon Tripa - the chairman of the Kashag and essentially head of the Tibetan government-in-exile presiding officer - the leader of a group meeting vice chairman - one ranking below or serving in the place of a chairman |
| Verb | 1. | chairman - act or preside as chair, as of an academic department in a university; "She chaired the department for many years" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
chairman
chairwomannoun
1. director, president, chief, executive, chairperson I had done business with the company's chairman.
2. master of ceremonies, spokesman, chair, speaker, MC, chairperson The chairman declared the meeting open.
Usage: The general trend of nonsexist language is to find a term which can apply to both sexes equally, as in the use of actor to refer to both men and women. Chairman can seem inappropriate when applied to a woman, while chairwoman specifies gender, and so, as the entry above illustrates, the terms chair and chairperson are often preferred as alternatives.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
TranslationsSelect a language:
Spanish / Español
chairman
[ˈtʃɛəmən] N (chairmen (pl)) → presidente/a m/fchairman's report → informe m del presidente
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
chair
(tʃeə) noun1. a movable seat for one person, with a back to it. a table and four chairs.silla
2. the position of a person who is chairman at a meeting etc. Who is in the chair?presidencia
3. the office of a university professor. He holds the chair of History at this university.cátedra
verb to be chairman at (a meeting etc). He chaired the meeting last night.presidir
ˈchairlift noun a set of seats hanging from a cable, used to take skiers etc up a mountain. telesilla
ˈchairman, chairperson, chairwoman nouns a person who takes charge of or directs a meeting. presidente; presidenta
ˈchairmanship noun Address a male chairman as Mr Chairman, and a female chairman as Madam Chairman.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
chairman
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