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chairman

 [chair-muhn]   Origin

chair·man

   [chair-muhn] noun, plural -men, verb -maned or -manned, -man·ing or -man·ning.
noun
1.
the presiding officer of a meeting, committee, board, etc.
2.
the administrative head of a department in a high school, college, or university.
3.
someone employed to carry or wheel a person in a chair.
verb (used with object)
4.
to act as or be chairman of (a meeting, committee, etc.).

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to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
chat, to converse
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Origin:
1645–55; chair + -man

Can be confused: chair, chairman, chairperson, chairwoman (see usage note at chairperson).

Usage note
See chairperson.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
chairman (ˈtʃɛəmən)
 
—n , pl -men
1.  chairperson, Also called: chairwoman 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
 
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
 
'chairmanship
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

chairman
1654, "occupier of a chair of authority," from chair + man. Meaning "member of a corporate body chosen to preside at meetings" is from c.1730.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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