sous-chef

English

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.

Coordinate terms

• chef
• line cook
• prep cook

Translations

chef underneath the head chef

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 副廚／副厨 (ㄈˋㄔㄨˊ, fùchú)

• Finnish: apukokki
• German: Souschef m
• Portuguese: subchefe m, sous-chef m
• Vietnamese: bếp phó

See also

• cook
• executive chef
• short-order cook
• underchef

French

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

Descendants

Descendants

• → English: sous-chef
• → Italian: sous-chef
• → Turkish: suşef

Further reading

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

Italian

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

Related terms

• chef