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Is there also a Spanish word for chairman? The ones I have seen for chairman are "presidente" but that doesn't make sense to me because I immediately think of the word president instead of chairman.

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It is certainly how we refer to the chairman of our residents association : el presidente, la presidenta – BrianA Jun 12 '12 at 20:22
Is is related to your other question about the school board or education related? Depending of the board or association may it be translated different, but for most cases is "presidente". – JoulSauron♦ Jun 12 '12 at 20:24
I can see that but "el president y la presidenta" seems to imply more power and duties. – Elizabeth Jun 12 '12 at 20:25
Note that it's "presidente", with 'e' in the end. – JoulSauron♦ Jun 12 '12 at 21:00
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To me, chairman sounds like "el hombre de la silla" and that doesn´t make sense either. – MikMik Jun 13 '12 at 6:28

4 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

The translation is "presidente" for most cases, but in few contexts you may look up the exact term. Looking at the definition, you can see that "presidente" covers anybody that is the head or leader of boards, clubs, associations..., not being important the size of the board or the powers and duties he/she may have.

About the gender agreement, the recommended form for both men and women is "presidente" (el presidente, la presidente) as in others words ended in "-ente", but it is widely used as well "la presidenta".

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up vote 3 down vote

In Puerto Rico, "Chairman of the Board" is translated to "Presidente de la Junta" or "Director de la Junta", CEO = "Director Ejecutivo".. To shorten "Chairman", we use the slang "Lider".

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Líder is not slang, though. – Juan Pablo Califano Jun 23 '12 at 13:18
It's an Anglicized version of the English word "Leader", and it's purposely misspelled so as to sound phonetically equivalent when pronouncing it in English.. Many words used in Puerto Rico have been coined in this fashion. – Frank Computer Jun 23 '12 at 13:42
Well, yes, but just as "guerra" is a mispelled version of a Germanic word, if you want to look it that way. My point is that "líder" it's not slang. It's just a Spanish word of English origin. – Juan Pablo Califano Jun 23 '12 at 15:27
up vote 1 down vote

As stated in the comments, "Presidente/a" is used in many contexts. You can be the Presidente of a fan club, a neighbour's community, any small association... It also applies for financial companies.

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I am not sure the word "presidenta" exists. The suffix "ente" means "entity" and it is used in other words like "paciente", "ardiente", "adolecente", or "cliente". AFAIK, there are no feminine version of these words. – Edwin Dalorzo Jun 12 '12 at 22:45
Yes it does exist (I'm a native Spanish). It is the feminine form of "presidente". However, it is true that in almost all of the other examples you provided there is no form ending in "enta". "pacienta", "ardienta", "adolescenta" do not exist. "Clienta" and "Presidenta", however, do exist. Examples of use: manualdeestilo.com/gramatica/presidenta elmundo.es/elmundo/2012/05/17/economia/1337267444.html – Rorok_89 Jun 13 '12 at 8:32
+1 in that case. – Edwin Dalorzo Jun 13 '12 at 12:36
up vote 1 down vote

"Presidente" or "Presidenta" is the exact translation for "chairman", specially in corporate environments.

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I am not sure the word "presidenta" exists. The suffix "ente" means "entity" and it is used in other words like "paciente", "ardiente", "adolecente", or "cliente". AFAIK, there are no feminine version of these words. – Edwin Dalorzo Jun 12 '12 at 22:45
Well, from your examples "presidenta" exists, as well as "clienta", and are widely used. What you say about -ente is true, but sometimes languages evolve without following logic or etymology. Another weird example is "modisto". Although "-ista" is the sufix for professions, male fashion designers are often called modistos. – MikMik Jun 13 '12 at 6:35
From RAE online :presidenta. 1. f. Mujer que preside. 2. f. presidente (‖ cabeza de un gobierno, consejo, tribunal, junta, sociedad, etc.). 3. f. presidente (‖ jefa del Estado). 4. f. coloq. Mujer del presidente. – BrianA Jun 13 '12 at 6:49
+1 In that case. – Edwin Dalorzo Jun 13 '12 at 12:36

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