chef

See also: Chef

English

Etymology

Borrowing from French chef (from the positions of chef d'office and chef de cuisine), from Old French chief (“head, leader”) (English chief), from Late Latin capum (“head”) (from which also captain, chieftain), from Latin caput (“head”) (English cap (“head covering”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (English head).

Pronunciation

Wikipedia

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛf/
• Rhymes: -ɛf

Noun

chef (plural chefs)

1. The presiding cook in the kitchen of a large household
   • <1845, R. H. Barham, Blasphemer's Warning in Ingoldsby Legends (1847), 3rd Ser., 245

     The Chef's peace of mind was restor'd, And in due time a banquet was placed on the board.

2. The head cook of a restaurant or other establishment
   • 1849, Thackeray, Pendennis (1850), I. xxviii. 266

     The angry little chef of Sir Francis Clavering's culinary establishment.

3. Any cook
   • Kiss the chef

Usage notes

When used in reference to a cook with no sous chefs or other workers beneath him, the term is connotes a certain degree of prestige—whether culinary education or ability—distinguishing the chef from a “cook”. As a borrowing, chef was originally italicized, but such treatment is now obsolete.

Synonyms

• (head cook): cook

Translations

The head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant

• Bulgarian: главен готвач (glaven gotvač)
• Catalan: xef m
• Chechen: юургйийриг (juurgjīrig)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 廚師, 厨师 (zh) (chúshī)

  Min Nan: 廚師 (tû-su), 廚子師 (tô͘-chí-sai), 廚子 (zh-min-nan) (tô͘-chí), 刀子 (to-chí), 總舖師 (zh-min-nan) (chóng-phò͘-sai), 總舖 (chóng-phò͘)

• Czech: šéfkuchař m
• Dutch: chefkok
• Estonian: peakokk
• Finnish: keittiömestari, kokki (fi)
• French: chef cuisinier (fr) m, chef (fr) m
• Galician: xefe de cociña m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Chefkoch m, Chefköchin f, Küchenchef m, Küchenchefin f
• Greek: αρχιμάγειρος m (archimágeiros)
• Hebrew: שף (he) m (shef)

• Icelandic: kokkur (is) m, yfirmatsveinn m, matreiðslumaður m, matsveinn m
• Italian: capocuoco m
• Japanese: 料理人（りょうりにん） (ryōrinin), 調理師（ちょうりし） (chōrishi), シェフ (shefu), コック (kokku), クック (kukku)
• Korean: 요리사 (ko) (yorisa), 주방장 (jubangjang)
• Macedonian: шеф на кујна (šef na kújna)
• Maltese: xeff m
• Manx: ard-choagyrey m
• Navajo: chʼiyáán ííłʼíní
• Polish: szef kuchni, kucharz (pl) m
• Portuguese: chef m, f
• Russian: шеф-повар (ru) m (šef-póvar)
• Spanish: chef (es) m
• Swedish: köksmästare, kock (sv) c
• Turkish: şef (tr)
• Uyghur: ئاشپەز (ug) (ashpez)
• Volapük: (♂♀) kvisinal, (♂) hikvisinal, (♀) jikvisinal

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Danish

Etymology

Borrowing from French chef

Noun

chef c (singular definite chefen, plural indefinite chefer)

1. A boss; person in charge, person who directly oversees the work being done
2. A chef, head cook

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• chef

  (file)

Etymology

Borrowing from French chef.

Noun

chef m (plural chefs, diminutive chefje n, feminine cheffin)

1. A boss, chief, head, leader
2. Short for a title including chef, e.g. a culinary chef

Derived terms

• chefkok m
• sergeant-chef m
• stationchef m

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French

Wikipedia ^fr

Etymology

From Old French chief, from Latin caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kauput-, *kaput-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛf/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛf
• Homophones: cheffe, cheffes, chefs

Noun

chef m (plural chefs)

D'or au chef de gueules, qui est des Seigneurs de Wiltz.

1. (now literary) head

   opiner du chef.

   to nod.

2. article, principal point.

   Les principaux chefs d’une demande.

3. principal motive

   Le procureur a tenu à refaire une lecture des chefs d’accusation.

4. top third of a coat of arms

Derived terms

• au premier chef
• chef-d’œuvre
• chef-lieu
• couvre-chef
• de son chef
• derechef

Noun

chef m (plural chefs, feminine cheffe)

Le Chef de l’Hôtel Chatham, William Orpen, 1921.

1. A boss, chief, leader.

   Le pape est le chef de l’Église.

2. A culinary chef, chief cook

   Créant dans des établissements de prestige de nombreuses recettes reprises ensuite par d'autres chefs, Escoffier a fait connaitre internationalement la cuisine française.

Derived terms

• adjudant-chef
• cheffe
• chefferie
• cheftaine
• en chef
• chef d'entreprise
• chef d'État
• chef d'état-major
• chef d'orchestre
• chef de famille
• chef de file
• commandant en chef
• ingénieur en chef
• sergent-chef
• sous-chef

References

• "chef" in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowing from French chef.

Noun

chef m (invariable)

1. A chef; head cook

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Jèrriais

Etymology

From Old French chief, chef, from Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput-, *kaput-.

Noun

chef m (plural chefs)

1. chief

Derived terms

• chef dé deu (“chief mourner”)
• chef dé musique (“conductor”)

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Old French

Noun

chef m (oblique plural chés, nominative singular chés, nominative plural chef)

1. Alternative form of chief.

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Portuguese

Noun

chef m f (plural chefs)

1. chef (the head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant)

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Romanian

Etymology

From Turkish kef, keyif.

Noun

chef n (plural chefuri)

1. (good) disposition, mood

   A nu avea chef de ceva.

   To not feel like/be in the mood for something.

2. desire, wish
3. (figuratively) appetite
4. whim, caprice
5. shindig, blowout,
6. revelry, binge; by extension, drunkenness

See also

• (disposition) dispoziție
• (wish): dorință
• (appetite): poftă
• (caprice): capriciu, dambla
• (shindig): petrecere, zaiafet
• (drunkenness): beție

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowing from French chef.

Noun

chef m, f (plural chef)

1. A chef, head cook

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Swedish

Etymology

Borrowing from French chef.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

chef c

1. A boss; person in charge, person who directly oversees the work being done

Declension

Declension of chef

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	chef	chefen	chefer	cheferna
genitive	chefs	chefens	chefers	chefernas

Derived terms

• avdelningschef
• försäljningschef
• mellanchef