hors-d'œuvre

See also: hors-d'oeuvre, hors d'oeuvre, and hors d'œuvre

English

Noun

hors-d'œuvre (plural hors-d'œuvre or hors-d'œuvres)

1. Alternative spelling of hors d'oeuvre.

French

Etymology

From hors de +‎ œuvre, literally “apart from the work”, that is, "apart from the main meal"

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /ɔʁ.d‿œvʁ/

• Audio (France); “un hors-d'œuvre”:

  (file)

Noun

hors-d'œuvre m (invariable)

1. (cooking) appetizer, starter, hors d'oeuvre (small, light, and usually savory first course in a meal)
2. (architecture) extension, appurtenance (room of a building that is not part of the main structure)
3. (literature) digression (act of straying from the main subject that could be removed from the text without detriment to the main plot)
4. (figurative) addendum, extraneity, superfluity, accessory, hors-d'oeuvre (something additional or secondary to the main thing)

Adjective

hors-d'œuvre (invariable)

1. (architecture) stand-alone (standing apart from the main body of a building)
2. (literature) off-topic, digressive (not relating directly to the subject at hand)

Further reading

• “hors-d'œuvre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012