chef

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Chef, chèf, and chef-

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French chef (from the positions of chef d'office and chef de cuisine),[1] from Old French chief (“head, leader”) (English chief), from Vulgar Latin *capum (“head”) (from which also captain, chieftain), from Latin caput (“head”) (English cap (“head covering”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (English head).

Pronunciation[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
  • IPA(key): /ʃɛf/
  • Audio (AU)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛf

Noun[edit]

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. (slogan on aprons used by home barbecue enthusiasts)
  4. (slang) One who manufactures illegal drugs; a cook.
    • 1998, SPIN (volume 14, number 3, page 100)
      But trying to stop all the nation's meth chefs makes as much sense as building a wall along the Mexican border.
    • 2013, Mike Power, Drugs 2.0
      Owsley Stanley, the world's most exacting and prolific LSD chef who supplied the majority of America's West Coast with LSD in the 1960s, claimed he made so much acid not because he wanted to change the world, but rather because it was almost impossible not to make vast quantities of the drug once the synthesis had been embarked upon.
  5. (historical) A reliquary in the shape of a head.

Usage notes[edit]

When used in reference to a cook with no sous-chefs or other workers beneath him, the term 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. Within a catering establishment, the head cook (and no-one else) will normally be addressed simply as "chef" as a term of respect.

Derived terms[edit]

Hypernyms[edit]

Synonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

chef (third-person singular simple present chefs, present participle cheffing, simple past and past participle cheffed)

  1. (informal) To work as a chef; to prepare and cook food professionally.
    • 1996, Sonora Review (issue 31, page 110)
      I cheffed part-time at a nice restaurant in town.
  2. (MLE, transitive) To stab with a knife, to shank, to lacerate with a rambo.
    • 2016, ASAP of 67 (lyrics), “Skeng Man”:
      Still on my knife work chef him up with that rambo
    • 2018 August 9, Taze of SMG (lyrics), “Pallance 2.0”:
      He got cheffed in the A in the head
    • 2018 August 16, Sav12 of 12World (lyrics), “Ks On Who”:
      Third time he was out of luck
      He tripped up and got cheffed

References[edit]

  1. ^ “chef”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Danish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French chef.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

chef c (singular definite chefen, plural indefinite chefer)

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

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French chef.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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

  1. A boss, chief, head, leader.
    Synonym: baas
  2. A culinary chef, a head cook.
    Synonym: chefkok
  3. Short for a title including chef.

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • → Indonesian: sep

French[edit]

French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French chief, from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin *capum, from Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Italic *kaput, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kauput-, *kaput-. Doublet of cap.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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.
    The main points of a request.
  3. principal motive
    Le procureur a tenu à refaire une lecture des chefs d’accusation.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  4. (heraldry) chief; top third of a coat of arms

Derived terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

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.
    The pope is the head of the church.
  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.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Italian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French chef. Doublet of capo.

Noun[edit]

chef m (invariable)

  1. A chef; head cook

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old French chief, from Latin caput.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

chef (uncountable)

  1. A leader, boss, or director; a chief official; one in charge.
  2. A authority or source of power; something which controls.
  3. The main, important or foundational part of something.
  4. The upper or topmost portion of something.
  5. (heraldry) The heraldic chief.
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]

Adjective[edit]

chef (plural and weak singular cheve, comparative chever, superlative chevest)

  1. Chief, head, top-ranking, executive; being in ultimate control.
  2. Principal, foremost, predominant, primary; having the greatest importance.
  3. High-quality, outstanding, notable, worthy; deserving recognition.
  4. (rare) Infamous; grave.
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]

Adverb[edit]

chef

  1. (rare) Principally, (the) most.
References[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old English ċeaf.

Noun[edit]

chef

  1. Alternative form of chaf

Norman[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

chef m (plural chefs)

  1. (Jersey) chief

Derived terms[edit]

Old French[edit]

Noun[edit]

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

  1. Alternative form of chief

Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French chef. Doublet of chefe, cabo, and caput

Noun[edit]

chef m, f (plural chefs)

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

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Turkish kef, keyif.

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French chef.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

chef m or f (plural chefs)

  1. A chef, head cook

Related terms[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French chef.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

chef c

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

Declension[edit]

Declension of chef 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative chef chefen chefer cheferna
Genitive chefs chefens chefers chefernas

Derived terms[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=chef&oldid=59435053"