hors d'oeuvre

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• hors-d'oeuvre
• orderve (US)

Etymology

From French hors d'œuvre

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ɔəˈdɜːv/ SAMPA: /O@"d3:v/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA: /ɔrˈdɝv/ SAMPA: /Or"d3`v/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

hors d'oeuvre (plural hors d'oeuvres)

1. A small, light, and usually savory first course in a meal.
2. (by extension) Anything of secondary concern; not the primary one.

Translations

appetizer

Chinese: Mandarin: 前菜 (zh) (qiáncài), 小吃 (zh) (xiǎochī), 點心 (zh), 点心 (zh) (diǎnxin) Finnish: alkupala (fi) French: hors-d'œuvre (fr) m., hors d'œuvre (fr) m. Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Hors d’œuvre (de) n., Vorspeise (de) f. Greek: ορεκτικό (el) (orektikó) n. Japanese: オードブル (ja) (ōdoburu), つき出し (ja) (つきだし, tsukidashi), 突き出し (ja) (つきだし, tsukidashi)

Korean: 오르되브르 (ko) (oreudoebeureu) Macedonian: ордевер (mk) (ordevér) m. Polish: zakąska (pl) f., przystawka (pl) f. Russian: закуска (ru) (zakúska) f. Spanish: aperitivo (es) m. Swedish: förrätt (sv) c. Volapük: büzib (vo)

anything of secondary concern

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Translations to be checked

Icelandic: forréttur m., smáréttur m.

Quotations

• 1920 — G. K. Chesterton, The New Jerusalem, Ch. XIII

  It seems quaintest of all when, at some Jewish luncheon parties, a tray of hats is actually handed round, and each guest helps himself to a hat as a sort of hors d'oeuvre.

• 1925 — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Ch. 3

  On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.

See also

• canapé

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French

Etymology

Literally, "apart from the work", in other words, "apart from the main meal"

Noun

hors d'oeuvre m. (plural hors d'oeuvre)

1. Nonstandard spelling of hors d'œuvre.

Usage notes

• The œ ligature is often replaced in Contemporary French with 'oe', as the œ character does not appear on AZERTY keyboards.