chef

Forms

chef n (plural chefuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish كیف (keyf), the Ottoman Turkish word for “pleasure, good mood; tipsiness”;^[2][3][4][1] DELR also cites an old and dialectal Turkish variant without /j/.^[2][3][4][1] The Turkish word is from Arabic كَيْف (kayf, “condition, state, mood”).^[1][5] Șăineanu gives the Ottoman sense as well-being of body and mind, good humour and light intoxication.^[6]

The word spread through the Balkans with Ottoman rule: Ciorănescu and BER compare Modern Greek κέφι (kéfi), Bulgarian кеф (kef) and Albanian qejf.^[4][5] It survives south of the Danube as well: Aromanian chefi and Megleno-Romanian chef.^[4][7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the word to 1741.^[3] Tiktin's first record is in Ion Neculce's chronicle of about 1743, in the sense “satisfaction of a wish”: the Wallachians were sorry that „nu ș-au putut face cheful pizmei cei vechi” “they could not satisfy their old grudge”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Șăineanu places first the Oriental leisure of coffee and the pipe, a sense close to tabiet, which DEX now marks as old.^[6][2] The main senses grew from “good mood”: a wish or a whim, a merry feast with food, drink and music, and the good humour of someone who has drunk.^[4][11][2] A fi cu chef means both “to be in good spirits” and “to be tipsy”, and chef și bucurie! is a toast.^[10][11]

The derivatives followed from the 18th century: chefui “to feast” in 1784, chefălui “to get drunk” in 1839, and chefliu “merrymaker, tipsy” in 1862, itself from Turkish keyfli.^[3]

Timeline

• 1741 – first record.^[3]
• c. 1743 – chef in Ion Neculce's chronicle.^[10]
• 1784 – the verb chefui “to feast”.^[3]
• 1801 – Chéf, glossed with Latin appetitus and voluntas “desire, will”, in Klein's dictionary.^[12]
• 1839 – chefălui “to get drunk”.^[3]
• 1862 – chefliu “merrymaker”.^[3]
• 1889 – the diminutive chefușor.^[3]
• 1892 – chefos “in good spirits”, in Moldavia.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A noisy party with food, drink and often music: au tras un chef până dimineața.^[2]
2. A state of light tipsiness and good humour after drinking: a fi cu chef “to be tipsy”.^[2][11]
3. Good mood, cheerfulness.^[2]
4. desire, wish: n-am chef de lucru “I'm not in the mood for work”; a sudden whim, caprice.^[2][11]
5. (dated) The Oriental leisure of coffee and the pipe, tabiet.^[2][6]

Word family

• chefălui
• chefăluială
• chefeli
• chefos
• chefui
• chefuleț
• chefușor
• chefliu

Related words

• Aromanian chefi
• Ottoman Turkish كیف (keyf)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 175
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. chef
4. ^ a b c d e Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. chef
5. ^ a b Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 2, 346
6. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1900), Influența orientală asupra limbei și culturei române, vol. I: Introducerea; vol. II.1: Vorbele populare; vol. II.2: Vorbele istorice, literare, Indice, București: Socec, p. II.1, 103
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 284
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 597
9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 67
10. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. chef
11. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 370
12. ^ Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 331