chef French · revision 15626

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 9th century, Sequence of Saint Eulalia|origins=la caput}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃɛf/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''chef''' ''m'' (plural chefs)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''chieef'', ''chief'' (nominative ''chiés''); ''chef'' from the 14th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|chief]],^(Wiktionary) [[inh|la-vul|*capum]], attested in the 7th century,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Académie 9) an altered form of classical [[la|caput|t=head; end; leader]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 334a) Rey relates ''caput'' to [[en|head]] and [[sa|कपाल|tr=kapāla|t=skull]].^(DHLF 1992) The southern outcome [[oc|cap]] gave French [[cap]], a doublet.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|capo]], [[ro|cap]], [[ca|cap]] and [[es|cabo]]; [[es|jefe]] was borrowed from French.^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first sense, “head”, is found in the ''Sequence of Saint Eulalia'' (late 9th century), where the persecutor orders her head cut off: “ad une spede li roveret tolir lo chief”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Beside “head”, which [[tête]] gradually replaced (it was old-fashioned by the 17th century and survives in [[couvre-chef]] and ''opiner du chef''),^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) the word took over the figurative senses of Latin ''caput'': “end, extremity” (about 1130), “one who is at the head of something, leader” (1172–1174), and “main point” (13th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From these come ''chef d'accusation'' “count of indictment” (1614), ''de son chef'' “on one's own authority” (1643) and ''au premier chef'' “first and foremost”.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ''Chef de cuisine'' is recorded by the Académie in 1740, and ''chef'' alone for the head cook from 1836,^(TLFi) the sense borrowed into English.^(Wiktionary) In modern French it is the usual word for a boss or leader, with the feminine ''cheffe''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 9th century – ''Chieef'' “head” in the ''Eulalia''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1130 – “End, extremity”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1172–1174 – “Leader” (Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence).^(TLFi)

+ * 1614 – ''Chef d'accusation''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1643 – ''De son chef''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1740 – ''Chef de cuisine''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1836 – ''Chef'' “head cook”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|leader]] or head; a [[m|en|boss]]: ''chef d'État'', ''chef d'équipe''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A head cook, a [[m|en|chef]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Chef d'orchestre'': a [[m|en|conductor]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' A head or count: ''chef d'accusation''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' The head: ''branler du chef''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' The [[m|en|chief]], the upper part of a shield.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chef-lieu]]

+ * [[couvre-chef]]

+ * [[derechef]]

+ * [[chefferie]]

+ * [[cheftaine]]

+ * [[sous-chef]]

+ * [[chef-d'œuvre]]

+ * [[achever]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[achèvement]]

+ * [[cap]]

+ * [[tête]]

+ * [[caprice]]

+ * [[la|caput]]

+ * [[en|chef]]

+ * [[en|chief]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In ''chef-d'œuvre'' the ''f'' is silent, while it is pronounced in ''chef-lieu'' and in ''chef'' itself; older French dropped it before a consonant or plural ''s''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}