Where does “boss” come from?

I appreciate the detailed rules, but I notice a significant problem with the chain provided: it appears to loop back on itself multiple times (four instances of "English base") and doesn't form a coherent etymological path for the word "boss." The chain seems corrupted or incorrectly formatted. To write an accurate one-sentence etymology following your rules, I would need a valid chain showing the actual progression of "boss" through its source languages in chronological order. Could you provide the correct etymological chain for "boss"? A typical etymology might move backward through something like: English boss → Dutch baas → [further origins], but I shouldn't guess at the actual path or fill in missing steps, as your rules explicitly state "Do not invent dates, cognates, or intermediate steps."

boss (English): A person who oversees and directs the work of...