sous-chef

Etymology

From French sous-chef. Compare Italian sotto capo, which was calqued into English as underboss. Perhaps there was ultimately an unattested term *subcaput in Late Latin, with a variant *subciput.

Noun

sous-chef (plural sous-chefs)

1. (cooking) The chef underneath the head chef in the chef's hierarchy.

   Hypernyms: chef, cook

   Coordinate terms: underchef (sometimes synonymous), line cook

Etymology

From sous- (“sub-”) +‎ chef (“chief”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /su.ʃɛf/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

sous-chef m (plural sous-chefs, feminine sous-cheffe)

1. second-in-command; right-hand man

Further reading

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

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French sous-chef (“second-in-command”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /suʃˈʃɛf/
• Rhymes: -ɛf

Noun

sous-chef m (invariable)

1. (cooking) sous-chef

   Synonym: sottocuoco