(chān) noun
1. A series of connected rings or links, serving to bind, drag, hold, or ornament.
2. Shackles; bonds; enthralment: usually in the plural.
3. Any connected series; a succession.
4. A range of mountains.
5. A measuring line or tape of 100 links; the engineer's (or Ramden's) chain is l00 feet long; the surveyor's (or Gunter's) chain is 66 feet long.
6. The warp threads of a fabric; also, the pattern chain of a loom.
7. plural Naut. The flat iron bars on the side of a ship that receive the strain of the shrouds; a chain plate or channel plate.
8. Chem. A series of atoms of the same or different kinds, linked together and acting as a unit. See CLOSED CHAIN, OPEN CHAIN, SIDE CHAIN.
9. A series of associated stores, banks, etc.
—v.t.
1. To fasten, as with a chain; also, to bring into or hold in subjection; enthrall.
2. In surveying, to measure with a chain. [<OF chaeine <L catena]
—chain′less adjective

(chān), Ernest Boris,
born 1906, German pathologist, active in England.