sachem means A chief of one or several Native American tribe(s), especially of the Algonquians; a sagamore. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.
sachem is pronounced /ˈseɪt͡ʃəm/.
Why “sachem” is a great word
SACHEM — [Noun] A chief or political leader of certain Native American tribes, particularly among the Algonquian peoples, or, by extension, a political boss. Borrowed into English in the 1620s from Narragansett (Algonquian) *sachim* ("chief, ruler"), ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *sa·kima·wa ("chief"). Doublet of sagamore. Unlike sagamore—which in some contexts denoted a subordinate leader—or the placeless generic chief, sachem is rooted in the specific sovereignty and soil of the northeastern woodlands. It evokes the weight of a wampum belt exchanged in council, the quiet authority in a longhouse debate, and the transferred gravity of a Tammany Hall kingmaker—a word traveling from council fires to smoke-filled rooms, bearing the quiet weight of usurped authority.
noun
- A chief of one or several Native American tribe(s), especially of the Algonquians; a sagamore.“Planted with their broad ends on the deck, a circle of these slabs laced together, mutually sloped towards each other, and at the apex united in a tufted point, where the loose hairy fibres waved to and fro like the top-knot on some old Pottowottamie Sachem’s head.”
- A boss, a leader.
- An eminent member of a group, or an eminent person in society; a sagamore.
- A high-ranking officer of the Tammany Hall political organization.“The society elects annually thirteen sachems, which represent the original thirteen States. […] The other officers of the society are a Secretary, Treasurer, Sagamore, and Wiskinkie.”
- A butterfly of the Americas, Atalopedes campestris.