chez

Etymology

It is borrowed from French chez (“at the house of”),^[2][3][4] from Old French chiese (“house”), recorded in the 12th century,^[3][5][6] from Latin casa (“house; cottage, hut”).^[2][3][7][5] Merriam-Webster traces it more directly to the locative form of the Latin noun, meaning "at home".^[4][8] Barnhart explains the French preposition as an unstressed form of chies, and traces the Latin noun, through an earlier form meaning wickerwork, to Proto-Indo-European *kat- (“to twist together by plaiting”).^[9] The Latin noun is also the source of casino.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

At the house or home of: 1740, in a letter of Lady M. W. Montagu.^[2][4] Barnhart describes the first uses as a French word brought into English correspondence.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In English the preposition has always been used with a French personal pronoun or a proper name, at first mostly French ones.^[2][3] The 1989 edition of the OED records it from 1804 with a pronoun as a noun.^[10] Merriam-Webster Unabridged extends it from the home to a person's place of business, as in the names of restaurants and hairdressers,^[4] and Collins adds the senses "with, among" and "in the manner of".^[11]

Timeline

• 1740 – at the house or home of.^[2][4][9]
• 1804 – with a pronoun, used as a noun.^[10]

Meanings

Preposition

1. At or in the home of: We spent the weekend chez Martine.^[4][11][2]
2. At the place of business of, especially in the names of restaurants and shops: lunch chez Marcel.^[4][12]
3. With or among; in the manner of.^[11][4]

Related words

• casino

Usage notes

The Shorter Oxford gives the French pronunciation /ʃe/, and /ʃez/ before a vowel.^[6] Mock-French names of the type “Chez Marshalls” for American discount stores have been recorded in print since at least 1994.^[13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
9. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
13. ^ Popik, Barry, The Big Apple, barrypopik.com, p. "Chez Marshalls", 21 April 2011