Standard Lemma guide

chef

noun · verb · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ʃɛf/
  • /t͡ʃɛf/ spelling pronunciation
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛf
  • CMU ARPABET: SH EH1 F Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The presiding cook in the kitchen of a large household.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The head cook of a restaurant or other establishment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Any cook.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

One who manufactures illegal drugs; a cook.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A reliquary in the shape of a head.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To work as a chef; to prepare and cook food professionally.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, stative

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To stab with a knife, to shank.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Multicultural-London-English, transitive

Examples

  • He got cheffed up proper.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ching, splash, chef, chib, chive, enthrill, foin, gore, gride, jab, job, juke, kebab, knifecrime, lancinate, pigstick, pink, poach, run through, shank, shiv, spear, speet, stab, stick, stob, stog, thrust, yerk

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To impress others.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

a professional cook

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cook

Narrower terms: cordon bleu, pastry cook

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

104 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: sjef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Albanian: gjellëtar — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Arabic: طَاهٍ (ṭāhin) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Arabic: طَاهِي (ṭāhī) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Arabic: شِيف (šīf) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Arabic: طَاهِيَة (ṭāhiya) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Arabic: شيف (šēf) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Arabic: طَبَّاخ (ṭabbāḵ) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Armenian: շեֆ-խոհարար (šef-xoharar) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Azerbaijani: baş aşpaz — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Belarusian: шэф-куха́р (šef-kuxár) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Bengali: বাবুর্চি (baburci) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Bulgarian: гла́вен готва́ч (gláven gotváč) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Catalan: xef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chechen: юургйийриг (juwrgjiı̇rig) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chinese Cantonese: 廚師 /厨师 (cyu4 si1, ceoi4 si1) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chinese Cantonese: 大廚 /大厨 — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chinese: 廚師 /厨师 (tû-su) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chinese: 廚子師 /厨子师 (tô͘-chí-sai) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chinese: 廚子 /厨子 (zh-min-nan) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chinese: 刀子 (to-chí) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chinese: 總舖師 /总铺师 (zh-min-nan) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chinese: 總舖 /总铺 (chóng-phò͘) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Chinese Mandarin: 廚師 /厨师 (chúshī) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Czech: šéfkuchař — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Dutch: chef-kok — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Esperanto: ĉefkuiristo — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Estonian: peakokk — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Finnish: keittiömestari — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Finnish: kokki — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • French: chef cuisinier — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • French: chef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Galician: xefe de cociña — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Georgian: მზარეული (mzareuli) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Georgian: შეფ-მზარეული (šep-mzareuli) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Georgian: შეფი (šepi) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • German: Chefkoch — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • German: Chefköchin — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • German: Küchenchef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • German: Küchenchefin — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Greek: αρχιμάγειρος (archimágeiros) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Hebrew: שֶׁף (shef) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Hindi: बावरची (bāvarcī) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Hungarian: séf — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Icelandic: kokkur — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Icelandic: yfirmatsveinn — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Icelandic: matreiðslumaður — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Icelandic: matsveinn — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Ido: koqueyestro — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Italian: chef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Italian: capocuoco — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Japanese: 料理人 (ryōrinin) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Japanese: 調理師 (chōrishi) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Japanese: シェフ (shefu) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Japanese: コック (kokku) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Khmer: ចុងភៅធំ (congphɨw thom) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Korean: 요리사 (yorisa) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Korean: 료리사 (ryorisa) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Korean: 주방장 (jubangjang) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Korean: 셰프 (syepeu) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Latvian: šefpavārs — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Lithuanian: vyriausias virėjas — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Lithuanian: šefas — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Macedonian: шеф на кујна (šef na kujna) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Maltese: xeff — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Manx: ard-choagyrey — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Navajo: chʼiyáán ííłʼíní — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kjøkkensjef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kjøkensjef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kjøkkensjef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Persian: سرآشپز (sar-âšpaz) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Polish: szef kuchni — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Polish: szefowa kuchni — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Polish: kuchmistrz — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Polish: kuchmistrzyni — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Portuguese: chef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Romanian: bucătar-șef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Russian: шеф-по́вар (šef-póvar) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Russian: по́вар (póvar) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Russian: ста́рший ко́к (stáršij kók) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Serbo-Croatian: главни кувар — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Serbo-Croatian: glavni kuhar — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Slovak: šéfkuchár — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Slovene: glavni kuhar — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Slovene: glavna kuharica — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Spanish: chef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Swahili: mpishi mkuu — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Swedish: köksmästare — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Swedish: kock — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Thai: หัวหน้าพ่อครัว (hǔua-nâa-pɔ̂ɔ-kruua) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Thai: เชฟ (chéep) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Turkish: şef — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Ukrainian: шеф-куха́р (šef-kuxár) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Urdu: باورچی (bāvarcī) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Urdu: آش پز (āś-paz) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Urdu: طباخ (tabbāx) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Uyghur: ئاشپەز (ashpez) — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Vietnamese: bếp trưởng — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Volapük: kvisinal — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Volapük: hikvisinal — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Volapük: jikvisinal — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Welsh: cogydd — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Welsh: pen-cogydd — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant
  • Welsh: sièff — head cook of an establishment such as a restaurant