chef

A2 Topic:Cooking & Baking

US /ʃɛf/ See IPA manual

Freq #1810

Meanings

1

noun
A professional cook, especially the head cook in a restaurant.

The chef prepared a special dish for our table.
2

noun
Any person who cooks, especially the main cook at home.

My dad is the chef of the household and makes dinner every night.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms chefs

Derived forms autochefchefdomchefesschefferchefferycheffycheflesscheflikecheflingcheflychefmanshipchefnap

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

Never trust a skinny chef

Etymology

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.

*kap- Proto-Indo-European chef French chief Old French capus la-vul caput Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cooking & Baking Food & Drink

External links

# chef

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ʃɛf/
**Frequency rank:** 1810

## Meanings
1. A professional cook, especially the head cook in a restaurant.
2. Any person who cooks, especially the main cook at home.

## Examples
- The chef prepared a special dish for our table.
- My dad is the chef of the household and makes dinner every night.

## Derived Forms
- autochef
- chefdom
- chefess
- cheffer
- cheffery
- cheffy
- chefless
- cheflike
- chefling
- chefly
- chefmanship
- chefnap

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *kap-
- Root: chef
- Root: chief
- Root: capus
- Root: caput

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
chef is a noun and verb. It is an 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. Historical forms in the chain include *kap- (Proto-Indo-European), chef (French), chief (Old French), capus (la-vul), and caput (Latin). Current senses include a professional cook, especially the head cook in a restaurant and any person who cooks, especially the main cook at home. Derived forms include autochef, chefdom, chefess, cheffer, and cheffery.

## Topics
- Cooking & Baking
- Food & Drink

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