jefe

plural jefes

1. USinformalAn officer with political influence; a head or chief in government, such as a sheriff, particularly where that person is Hispanic or of Mexican descent.

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

   1887, Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Central America, History Company, page 153

   2 more examples

   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.

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

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

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

2. USA boss in a business, company, or other organization.

   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.

   3 more examples

   “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.”

   1982 January, George Durham, Taming the Nueces Strip: The Story of McNelly's Rangers, University of Texas Press, page 120

   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.

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

   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

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