chef

See also: Chef, chèf, and chef-

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French chef (from the positions of chef d'office and chef de cuisine), 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

• 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. (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

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.

Synonyms

• (head cook): cook

Translations

head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: طَاهٍ‎‎ m (ṭāhin) (indefinite), طَاهِي‎‎ m (ṭāhī) (construct), شِيف‎‎ m (šīf)
• Armenian: շեֆ-խոհարար (šef-xoharar)
• Bulgarian: главен готвач (glaven gotvač)
• Catalan: xef m
• Chechen: юургйийриг (juurgjīrig)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 廚師, 厨师 (cyu⁴ si¹, ceoi⁴ si¹), 大廚, 大厨 (daai⁶ cyu^4-2, daai⁶ ceoi^4-2)

  Mandarin: 廚師 (zh), 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: chef-kok (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉefkuiristo
• Estonian: peakokk
• Finnish: keittiömestari (fi), kokki (fi)
• French: chef cuisinier (fr) m, chef (fr) m
• Galician: xefe de cociña m
• Georgian: მზარეული (mzareuli), შეფ-მზარეული (šep-mzareuli), შეფი (ka) (šepi)
• German: Chefkoch (de) m, Chefköchin f, Küchenchef (de) m, Küchenchefin (de) f
• Greek: αρχιμάγειρος m (archimágeiros)
• Hebrew: שף‎‎ (he) m (shef)
• Hindi: बावरची (hi) ? (bāvarcī)
• Hungarian: séf (hu)
• Icelandic: kokkur (is) m, yfirmatsveinn m, matreiðslumaður m, matsveinn m
• Ido: koqueyestro (io)
• 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)

• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 요리사 (ko) (yorisa), 주방장 (jubangjang)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: шеф на кујна (šef na kujna)
• Maltese: xeff m
• Manx: ard-choagyrey m
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Navajo: chʼiyáán ííłʼíní
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjøkkensjef m

  Nynorsk: kjøkensjef m, kjøkkensjef m

• Polish: szef kuchni, kucharz (pl) m
• Portuguese: chef (pt) m, f
• Romanian: bucătar-șef m
• Russian: шеф-по́вар (ru) m (šef-póvar), по́вар (ru) m (póvar)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
• Slovene: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: chef (es) m
• Swedish: köksmästare (sv), kock (sv) c
• Thai: หัวหน้าพ่อครัว (hǔua-nâa-pɔ̂ɔ-kruua), เชฟ (chêep)
• Turkish: şef (tr)
• Urdu: باورچی‎‎ ? (bāvarcī)
• Uyghur: ئاشپەز‎‎ (ug) (ashpez)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: (♂♀) kvisinal, (♂) hikvisinal, (♀) jikvisinal
• Welsh: please add this translation if you can

---

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from French chef.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɕɛːˀf]

Noun

chef c (singular definite chefen, plural indefinite chefer)

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

---

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French chef.

Pronunciation

• chef

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛf

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

---

French

Etymology

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

• 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.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

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

Derived terms

• au premier chef
• chef d'accusation

• chef-d’œuvre
• chef-lieu

• couvre-chef
• derechef

• de son chef

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.

   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

Derived terms

• adjudant-chef
• chef de famille
• chef de file
• chef d'entreprise

• chef d'État
• chef d'état-major
• chef d'orchestre
• cheffe

• chefferie
• cheftaine
• commandant en chef
• en chef

• ingénieur en chef
• sergent-chef
• sous-chef

Further reading

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

---

Italian

Alternative forms

• scef (uncommon)

Etymology

Borrowed from French chef.

Noun

chef m (invariable)

1. A chef; head cook

---

Norman

Etymology

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

Noun

chef m (plural chefs)

1. (Jersey) chief

Derived terms

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

---

Old French

Noun

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

1. Alternative form of chief

---

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French chef.

Noun

chef m, f (plural chefs)

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

---

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed 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

---

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French chef.

Noun

chef m, f (plural chef)

1. A chef, head cook

---

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from French chef.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɧeːf/

• 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
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	chef	chefen	chefer	cheferna
Genitive	chefs	chefens	chefers	chefernas

Derived terms

• avdelningschef
• försäljningschef
• mellanchef