chef-d'œuvre

See also: chef d'œuvre and chef d'oeuvre

English

Noun

chef-d'œuvre (plural chefs-d'œuvre)

1. Alternative form of chef d'œuvre
   • 1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[Book IV. Rome.] Chap[ter] V.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume I, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, pages 217–218:

     It was there that the Romans exposed their chefs-d’œuvre of painting and of sculpture.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Truth of Presentiments”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 307:

     I shall have a bottle of the old Burgundy, and tell Chloe he must exert himself to send me up some slight chef-d'œuvre for supper: I am sure that one needs something, after so much annoyance!

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛ.d‿œvʁ/

Noun

chef-d’œuvre m (plural chefs-d’œuvre)

1. the chief example of a body of work, a masterpiece

Descendants

• → Belarusian: шэдэ́ўр (šedéŭr)
• → Bulgarian: шедьо́вър (šedjóvǎr)
• → English: chef d'œuvre, chef d'oeuvre, chef-d'œuvre
• → Indonesian: adikarya (calque)
• → Italian: capodopera, capo d'opera (more common) (calque)
  • → Romanian: capodoperă
• → Russian: шеде́вр (šedévr)
  • → Azerbaijani: şedevr
  • → Latvian: šedevrs
  • → Lithuanian: šedevras
• → Ukrainian: шеде́вр (šedévr)

Further reading

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