chef

See also: Chef, chèf, and chef-

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *káput

Proto-Italic *kaput

Latin caput

Vulgar Latin capus

Old French chief

Middle French chief

French chefubor.

English chef

Unadapted borrowing 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 capus (“head”) (from which also captain, chieftain), from Latin caput (“head”) (possibly related to English cap (“head covering”)).

Doublet of cape, capo, caput, and chief through Latin, and head and Howth through Proto-Indo-European.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛf/, (spelling pronunciation) /t͡ʃɛf/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛf

Noun

chef (plural chefs)

1. The presiding cook in the kitchen of a large household.
   • a. 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.
   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Which Is Both Quarrelsome and Sentimental”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849, →OCLC, page 266:

     The cause of the disturbance, it appeared, was the angry little chef of Sir Francis Clavering's culinary establishment.

3. Any cook.

   My partner is the chef of the household, while I do most of the cleaning.

   • 2020 May 7, Genesia Ting, “How Newton Nguyen is inspiring a young generation of home chefs”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[1], Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 May 2020:

     The videos are easy to follow — and short. His style is consistent and effective; his recipes have built a microcosm of predominantly young, first-time chefs with a penchant for TikTok-able entertainment. “I’m just a regular guy, and not a chef at all,” Nguyen said.

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.

Within a catering establishment, the head cook (and no-one else) will normally be addressed simply as "chef" as a term of respect.

Synonyms

• (cook, particularly a learned or skilful one): magirist, magirologist (obs.)

Hypernyms

• (cook): cook

Derived terms

• autochef
• chefdom
• chefess
• cheffery
• cheffy
• chefless
• cheflike
• chefling
• chefly
• chefmanship
• Chef Mike
• chefnap
• chef salad
• chef's kiss
• cheftender
• chefware
• chef watcher
• chefwear
• head chef
• nonchef
• pastry chef
• robochef
• short-order chef
• station chef
• subchef
• superchef
• uberchef
• underchef

Related terms

• chef de cuisine
• chef de mission
• chef de rang
• chef d'oeuvre / chef d'œuvre / chef-d'œuvre

Descendants

• → Afrikaans: sjef
• → Malay: cef
• → Maltese: xeff
• → Thai: เชฟ (chéep)

Translations

head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant

• Afrikaans: sjef
• Albanian: gjellëtar (sq) m
• Arabic: طَاهٍ m (ṭāhin) (indefinite), طَاهِي m (ṭāhī) (construct), شِيف m (šīf), طَاهِيَة f (ṭāhiya)

  Hijazi Arabic: شيف m (šēf), طَبَّاخ m (ṭabbāḵ)

• Armenian: շեֆ-խոհարար (šef-xoharar)
• Azerbaijani: baş aşpaz
• Belarusian: шэф-куха́р m (šef-kuxár)
• Bengali: বাবুর্চি (bn) (baburci)
• Bulgarian: гла́вен готва́ч m (gláven gotváč)
• Catalan: xef m
• Chechen: юургйийриг (juwrgjiı̇rig)
• Chinese:

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

  Hokkien: 廚師 / 厨师 (tû-su), 廚子師 / 厨子师 (tô͘-chí-sai), 廚子 / 厨子 (zh-min-nan) (tô͘-chí), 刀子 (to-chí), 總舖師 / 总铺师 (zh-min-nan) (chóng-phò͘-sai), 總舖 / 总铺 (chóng-phò͘)

  Mandarin: 廚師 / 厨师 (zh) (chúshī)

• Czech: šéfkuchař m
• Dutch: chef-kok (nl) m
• 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 (de) f, Küchenchef (de) m, Küchenchefin (de) f
• Greek: αρχιμάγειρος (el) m (archimágeiros)
• Hebrew: שֶׁף (he) m (shef)
• Hindi: बावरची (hi) m (bāvarcī)
• Hungarian: séf (hu)
• Icelandic: kokkur (is) m, yfirmatsveinn m, matreiðslumaður m, matsveinn m
• Ido: koqueyestro (io)
• Italian: chef (it), capocuoco (it) m
• Japanese: 料理人 (ja) (りょうりにん, ryōrinin), 調理師 (ja) (ちょうりし, chōrishi), シェフ (ja) (shefu), コック (ja) (kokku)
• Khmer: ចុងភៅធំ (congphɨw thom)
• Korean: 요리사(料理師) (ko) (yorisa), 료리사(料理師) (ryorisa) (North Korea), 주방장(廚房長) (jubangjang), 셰프 (syepeu)
• Latvian: šefpavārs m
• Lithuanian: vyriausias virėjas m, šefas m
• Macedonian: шеф на кујна m (šef na kujna)
• Maltese: xeff m
• Manx: ard-choagyrey m
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: please add this translation if you can

• Navajo: chʼiyáán ííłʼíní
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjøkkensjef m

  Nynorsk: kjøkensjef m, kjøkkensjef m

• Persian: سرآشپز (fa) (sar-âšpaz)
• Polish: szef kuchni (pl) m, szefowa kuchni f, kuchmistrz (pl) m, kuchmistrzyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: chef (pt) m or f
• Romanian: bucătar-șef m
• Russian: шеф-по́вар (ru) m (šef-póvar), по́вар (ru) m (póvar), ста́рший ко́к (ru) (stáršij kók) (ship's cook)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: главни кувар m

  Latin: glavni kuhar m

• Slovak: šéfkuchár m
• Slovene: glavni kuhar m, glavna kuharica f
• Spanish: chef (es) m
• Swahili: mpishi mkuu
• Swedish: köksmästare (sv) c, kock (sv) c
• Thai: หัวหน้าพ่อครัว (hǔua-nâa-pɔ̂ɔ-kruua), เชฟ (th) (chéep)
• Turkish: şef (tr)
• Ukrainian: шеф-куха́р m (šef-kuxár)
• Urdu: باورچی m (bāvarcī), آش پز (āś-paz), طباخ (tabbāx)
• Uyghur: ئاشپەز (ug) (ashpez)
• Vietnamese: bếp trưởng
• Volapük: (♂♀) kvisinal, (♂) hikvisinal, (♀) jikvisinal
• Welsh: cogydd (cy) m or f, pen-cogydd m or f ('head-chef'), sièff m or f

Verb

chef (third-person singular simple present chefs, present participle cheffing, simple past and past participle cheffed)

1. (stative, informal) To work as a chef; to prepare and cook food professionally.
   • 1953, The Deke Quarterly, volume 71, number 4, page 32:

     It was Brick who talked on alumni relations with the active chapters and who cheffed at our steak fry (more of that later) and Mrs. Cowles who took over  […]

   • 1996, Sonora Review, number 31, page 110:

     I cheffed part-time at a nice restaurant in town.

   • 2007, Indianapolis Monthly, page 68:

     He opened Oakleys in 2002, having formerly cheffed at the late, much-missed Something Different and, before that, world-renowned kitchens in Chicago […]

   • 2020, William Sitwell, The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     A man called Richard Briggs cheffed at the Globe Tavern on Fleet Street, the White Hart Tavern in Holborn and the Temple Coffee House.

2. (MLE, transitive) To stab with a knife, to shank.

   Synonyms: ching, splash; see also Thesaurus:stab

   He got cheffed up proper.

   • 2016, “Skeng Man”, ASAP of 67 (lyrics):

     Still on my knife work chef him up with that rambo

   • 2017 June 13, @louistheroux [Louis Theroux], Twitter‎^[2] (post), archived from the original on 8 November 2023:

     Child just said he'd "chef me up". I said not hungry, but it restored my faith in young generation, offering to cook for strangers.

   • 2018 August 9, “Pallance 2.0”, Taze of SMG (lyrics):

     He got cheffed in the A in the head

   • 2018 August 16, “Ks On Who”, Sav12 of 12World (lyrics):

     Third time he was out of luck
     He tripped up and got cheffed

   • 2019 October 9, Manuel Petrovic, quotee, “Jodie Chesney: Killer targeted 'wrong people' court told”, in BBC News‎^[3], archived from the original on 6 November 2019:

     Asked how he knew that, he replied: "Uh? Because I know that ... It was to do with Svenson's op - they cheffed him up a couple of month or something, a couple of months before.

3. (Internet slang) To impress others.
   • 2020, “Drip Like Me”, performed by Kenndog:

     thinkin' that I be cheffin'.'

Derived terms

• cheffer
• chef up

Descendants

• →⇒ Russian: ше́фнуть (šéfnutʹ)

Basque

Etymology

Etymology tree

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *káput

Proto-Italic *kaput

Latin caput

Vulgar Latin capus

Old French chief

Middle French chief

French chefubor.

Basque chef

Unadapted borrowing from French chef.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃef/ [t͡ʃef], /ʃef/ [ʃef]
• Rhymes: -ef
• Hyphenation: chef

Noun

chef anim

1. chef (head cook)

   Synonym: sukaldariburu

Declension

Declension of chef (anim C-stem)

	indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive	chef	chefa	chefak	chefok
ergative	chefek	chefak	chefek	chefok
dative	chefi	chefari	chefei	chefoi
genitive	chefen	chefaren	chefen	chefon
comitative	chefekin	chefarekin	chefekin	chefokin
causative	chefengatik	chefarengatik	chefengatik	chefongatik
benefactive	chefentzat	chefarentzat	chefentzat	chefontzat
instrumental	chefez	chefaz	chefez	chefotaz
inessive	chefengan	chefarengan	chefengan	chefongan
locative	—	—	—	—
allative	chefengana	chefarengana	chefengana	chefongana
terminative	chefenganaino	chefarenganaino	chefenganaino	chefonganaino
directive	chefenganantz	chefarenganantz	chefenganantz	chefonganantz
destinative	chefenganako	chefarenganako	chefenganako	chefonganako
ablative	chefengandik	chefarengandik	chefengandik	chefongandik
partitive	chefik	—	—	—
prolative	cheftzat	—	—	—

Further reading

• “chef”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]

Danish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French chef.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsjɛːˀf/, [ˈɕeˀf]

Noun

chef c (singular definite chefen, plural indefinite chefer)

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

   Synonym: (informal) boss

Declension

Declension of chef

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	chef	chefen	chefer	cheferne
genitive	chefs	chefens	chefers	chefernes

Derived terms

• administrationschef
• afdelingschef
• ankechef
• annoncechef
• balletchef
• bataljonschef
• batterichef
• brandchef
• brigadechef
• bureauchef
• butikschef
• chef-
• chefanalytiker
• chefdesigner
• chefdirigent
• chefforhandler
• chefgruppe
• chefideolog
• chefingeniør
• chefjurist
• chefkok
• chefkonsulent
• chefkontor
• chefkriminalinspektør
• cheflæge
• chefoptiker
• chefpilot
• chefpolitiinspektør
• chefpost
• chefpsykolog
• chefredaktion
• chefredaktør
• chefsekretær
• chefsergent
• chefstilling
• chefstol
• cheftræner
• cheføkonom
• dagtilbudschef
• departementschef
• designchef
• distriktschef
• divisionschef
• drabschef
• dramachef
• driftschef
• edb-chef
• efterretningschef
• eksportchef
• erhvervschef
• eskadrechef
• eskadronchef
• fabrikschef
• filialchef
• finanschef
• forskningschef
• forsvarschef
• forvaltningschef
• generalstabschef
• hofchef
• hærchef
• indkøbschef
• informationschef
• juniorchef
• kabinetschef
• kanalchef
• klinikchef
• kommunikationschef
• kompagnichef
• koncernchef
• kontorchef
• korpschef
• køkkenchef
• laboratoriechef
• landsholdschef
• logistikchef
• løbschef
• markedschef
• marketingchef
• maskinchef
• musikchef
• nyhedschef
• områdechef
• operachef
• partichef
• personalechef
• planlægningschef
• politichef
• pressechef
• produktchef
• produktionschef
• programchef
• projektchef
• protokolchef
• receptionschef
• redaktionschef
• rederichef
• regeringschef
• regimentschef
• regionschef
• regnskabschef
• restaurantchef
• rigspolitichef
• salgschef
• sekretariatschef
• sektionschef
• seniorchef
• sikkerhedschef
• skattechef
• skibschef
• skuespilchef
• socialchef
• souschef
• spionchef
• sportschef
• stabschef
• statschef
• styrelseschef
• teamchef
• teaterchef
• tjenestegrenschef
• topchef
• turistchef
• uddannelseschef
• udviklingschef
• vagtchef
• vicekontorchef
• vicepolitichef
• økonomichef

See also

• overordnet
• foresat

References

• “chef” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French chef.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: chef
• Rhymes: -ɛf

Noun

chef m (plural chefs, diminutive chefje n, female equivalent cheffin)

1. a boss, chief, head, leader

   Synonym: baas

2. a culinary chef, a head cook

   Synonym: chef-kok

3. Short for a title including chef.
4. (Suriname) A form of address to a working-class man

   Chef, halte hoor.

   Driver, I'd like to get off the bus here.

Derived terms

• chef-kok
• sergeant-chef
• stationschef

Descendants

• → Caribbean Javanese: sèf
• → Indonesian: sep
• → Javanese: ꦱꦺꦥ꧀ (sèp)
• → Papiamentu: shèf

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French chief, from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Italic *kaput, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kauput-, *kaput-. Doublet of cap.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Agen)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost)):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (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

   the main points of a request

3. principal motive, charge, count of indictment

   Le procureur a tenu à refaire une lecture des chefs d’accusation.

   The prosecutor insisted on reading off the counts of indictment again.

4. (heraldry) chief; top third of a coat of arms

   d'or au chef de gueules

   or, a chief gules

Derived terms

• au premier chef
• chef d'accusation
• chef de bande
• chef de cabinet
• chef de chœur
• chef de file
• chef de guerre
• chef de projet
• chef d'État
• chef d'orchestre
• chef-d’œuvre
• chef-lieu
• couvre-chef
• de son chef
• de son propre chef
• derechef
• en chef
• opiner du chef
• rédacteur en chef
• rédactrice en 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.

   Creating in prestigious establishments many recipes that were later taken up by other cooks, Escoffier made French cuisine internationally known.

Derived terms

• adjudant-chef
• chef de bande
• chef de famille
• chef de file
• chef de partie
• chef d'entreprise
• chef d'État
• chef d'état-major
• chef d'orchestre
• cheffe
• chefferie
• cheftaine
• commandant en chef
• couteau de chef
• en chef
• ingénieur en chef
• sergent-chef
• sous-chef

Related terms

• achever
• achèvement

Descendants

• → Arabic: شيف (šēf)
• → Belarusian: шэф (šef)
• → Bulgarian: шеф (šef)
• → Catalan: xef
• → Crimean Tatar: şef
• → Czech: šéf
• → Danish: chef
• → Dutch: chef
  • → Caribbean Javanese: sèf
  • → Indonesian: sep
  • → Javanese: ꦱꦺꦥ꧀ (sèp)
  • → Papiamentu: shèf
• → English: chef
  • → Afrikaans: sjef
  • → Malay: cef
  • → Maltese: xeff
  • → Thai: เชฟ (chéep)
• → German: Chef
  • → Serbo-Croatian:
    • Cyrillic script: ше̏ф
    • Latin script: šȅf
• → Greek: σεφ (sef)
• Haitian Creole: chèf
• → Hebrew: שֶׁף (shef)
• → Hungarian: séf
• → Italian: chef
• → Japanese: シェフ (shefu)
• → Korean: 셰프 (syepeu)
• → Lithuanian: šefas
• → Luxembourgish: Chef
• → Macedonian: шеф (šef)
• → Norwegian: sjef
• → Pannonian Rusyn: шеф (šef)
• → Polish: szef
  • → Kashubian: szef
• → Portuguese: chef, chefe
• → Romanian: șef
• → Russian: шеф (šef), шефъ (šef) — pre-1918 spelling
  • → Armenian: շեֆ (šef)
  • → Georgian: შეფი (šepi)
• → Slovak: šéf
• → Spanish: chef
• → Swedish: chef
• → Turkish: şef
• → Ukrainian: шеф (šef)
• → Vietnamese: sếp
• → Yiddish: שעף (shef)

Further reading

• “chef”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Italian

Alternative forms

• scef (uncommon)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French chef (“head; chief”), from Middle French chief, from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Italic *kaput, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *káput. Doublet of capo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ^*/ˈʃɛf/
• Rhymes: -ɛf

Noun

chef m (invariable)

1. (cooking) chef (head cook)

   Synonym: capocuoco

2. (by extension) a sophisticated cook

Related terms

• sous-chef

Further reading

• “chef”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French chief, from Latin caput.

Alternative forms

• cheef, cheefe, chefe, chief, chif, chife, chyeef, chyff

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃeːf/

Noun

chef (uncountable)

1. A leader, boss, or director; a chief official; one in charge.
2. An authority or source of power; something which controls.
3. The main, important or foundational part of something.
4. The upper or topmost portion of something.
5. (heraldry) The heraldic chief.

Related terms

• bonchef
• cheveteyn
• keverchef
• myschef

Descendants

• English: chief (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: chief

References

• “chẹ̄f, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 12 September 2018.

Adjective

chef (plural and weak singular cheve, comparative chever, superlative chevest)

1. Chief, head, top-ranking, executive; being in ultimate control.
2. Principal, foremost, predominant, primary; having the greatest importance.
3. High-quality, outstanding, notable, worthy; deserving recognition.
4. (rare) Infamous; grave.

Derived terms

• chefly

Descendants

• English: chief
• Scots: chief

References

• “chẹ̄f, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 12 September 2018.

Adverb

chef

1. (rare) Principally, (the) most.

References

• “chẹ̄fe, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 12 September 2018.

Etymology 2

Noun

chef

1. (AB language, Ayenbite; Early Middle English, Worcestershire) alternative form of chaf

Etymology 3

Noun

chef

1. (Lincolnshire) alternative form of schef

Norman

Etymology

From Old French chief, chef, from Vulgar Latin capus, 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 oblique singular, m (oblique plural ches, nominative singular ches, nominative plural chef)

1. alternative form of chief

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *káput

Proto-Italic *kaput

Latin caput

Vulgar Latin capus

Old French chief

Middle French chief

French chefubor.

Portuguese chef

Unadapted borrowing from French chef.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛ.fi/, /ˈʃɛf/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛf/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛf/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɛf/

Noun

chef m or f by sense (plural chefs)

1. alternative form of chefe (the head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant)

Further reading

• “chef”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic كَيْف (kayf)bor.

Ottoman Turkish كیف (keyf)bor.

Romanian chef

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish كیف (keyf), borrowed from Arabic كَيْف (kayf, “condition, state, mood”). Compare Turkish 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

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	chef	cheful	chefuri	chefurile
genitive-dative	chef	chefului	chefuri	chefurilor
vocative	chefule		chefurilor

See also

• (disposition) dispoziție
• (wish): dorință
• (appetite): poftă
• (caprice): capriciu, dambla
• (shindig): petrecere, zaiafet
• (drunkenness): beție

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *káput

Proto-Italic *kaput

Latin caput

Vulgar Latin capus

Old French chief

Middle French chief

French chefubor.

Spanish chef

Unadapted borrowing from French chef. Doublet of jefe and cabo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃef/ [ˈt͡ʃef]
  • Syllabification: chef
• IPA^(key): /ˈʃef/ [ˈʃef]
• Rhymes: -ef

Noun

chef m or f by sense (plural chefs)

1. chef, head cook

Usage notes

• According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Related terms

• cabeza
• jefe

Further reading

• “chef”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “chef”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA

Swedish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French chef.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɧeːf/, /ɧɛːf/

Noun

chef c

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

Usage notes

False friend with chef, see kock.

Declension

Declension of chef

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	chef	chefs
	definite	chefen	chefens
plural	indefinite	chefer	chefers
	definite	cheferna	chefernas

Derived terms

• avdelningschef
• butikschef
• försäljningschef
• mellanchef