entry
chef
/ʃɛf/Professional cook, especially head of a kitchen
From Latin caput (head).
from Latin caput (“head”) (possibly related to English cap (“head covering”)). Doublet of cape, capo, caput, and chief...
from Vulgar Latin capus (“head”) (from which also captain, chieftain)
from Old French chief "leader, ruler, head" (see chief (n.)).
+1 more sourcefrom French chef, short for chef
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin caput (“head”) (possibly related to English cap (“head covering”)). Doublet of cape, capo, caput, and chief...
from Vulgar Latin capus (“head”) (from which also captain, chieftain)
from Old French chief "leader, ruler, head" (see chief (n.)).
+1 more sourcefrom French chef, short for chef
+1 more sourceBefore chef meant someone coaxing a perfect soufflé from an oven, French used chef for a head, leader, or ruler—the person literally at the top. In the nineteenth-century kitchen, chef de cuisine meant “head of the kitchen,” and English shortened the title to chef; the first English record in this sense dates to 1842. The family tree is crowded: Latin caput “head” also gave us captain and chieftain, while chief is an especially close English cousin. Wait, even capo belongs in the same gallery, carrying the old idea of a head or leader into Italian and musical vocabulary. So when a restaurant calls someone its chef, it is quietly preserving an ancient hierarchy: the kitchen’s “head” is still in charge.
The Story
Before chef meant someone coaxing a perfect soufflé from an oven, French used chef for a head, leader, or ruler—the person literally at the top. In the nineteenth-century kitchen, chef de cuisine meant “head of the kitchen,” and English shortened the title to chef; the first English record in this sense dates to 1842. The family tree is crowded: Latin caput “head” also gave us captain and chieftain, while chief is an especially close English cousin. Wait, even capo belongs in the same gallery, carrying the old idea of a head or leader into Italian and musical vocabulary. So when a restaurant calls someone its chef, it is quietly preserving an ancient hierarchy: the kitchen’s “head” is still in charge.
Modern Usage
In some slang, “chef someone up” means to stab them; “Chef” also refers to the South Park character played by Isaac Hayes.
Notable References
- South Park character Chef, voiced by Isaac Hayes
Kin & Kindred
From 'caput'·head
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary