hors d'oeuvre

See also: hors-d'oeuvre and hors-d'œuvre

English

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hors d'oeuvre

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• hors-d'oeuvre
• hors d'œuvre
• hors-d'œuvre

Etymology

Borrowed from French hors-d’œuvre.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɔːˈdɜːv/^[1]

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɔɹˈdɝv/^[1]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

hors d'oeuvre (plural hors d'oeuvre or hors d'oeuvres)

1. (food) A small, light, and usually savory first course in a meal.
2. (by extension) Anything of secondary concern; not the primary thing.
3. (dated, rare) Something unusual or extraordinary.

Quotations

• 1920, G. K. Chesterton, chapter XIII, in The New Jerusalem:

  It seems quaintest of all when, at some Jewish luncheon parties, a tray of hats is actually handed round, and each guest helps himself to a hat as a sort of hors d'oeuvre.

• 1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 3, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN, →OCLC:

  On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.

Synonyms

(food):

• apéritif
• appetizer
• entrée
• starter
• tapa

Translations

appetizer

Armenian: նախուտեստ (hy) (naxutest) Belarusian: заку́ска f (zakúska), пераку́ска f (pjerakúska), пераку́с m (pjerakús) Bulgarian: ордьо́вър m (ordjóvǎr), мезе́ n (mezé), предя́стие n (predjástie), заку́ска (bg) f (zakúska) Chinese: Mandarin: 前菜 (zh) (qiáncài), 小吃 (zh) (xiǎochī), 點心 / 点心 (zh) (diǎnxin), 冷盤 / 冷盘 (zh) (lěngpán), 開胃菜 / 开胃菜 (zh) (kāiwèicài) Czech: předkrm (cs) m Danish: forret (da) c, hors d'oeuvre Dutch: hors-d'oeuvre (nl) m Esperanto: antaŭmanĝaĵo Finnish: alkupala (fi) French: hors-d’œuvre (fr) m Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Hors d’œuvre n, Vorspeise (de) f Greek: ορεκτικό (el) n (orektikó) Hungarian: előétel (hu) Japanese: オードブル (ja) (ōdoburu), つき出し (つきだし, tsukidashi), 突き出し (ja) (つきだし, tsukidashi), 前菜 (ja) (ぜんさい, zensai), アペタイザー (apetaizā) Korean: 오르되브르 (ko) (oreudoebeureu), 전채 (jeonchae), 애피타이저 (ko) (aepitaijeo) Latin: gustātiō f, prōmulsis f Macedonian: о́рдевер m (órdever) Maori: kūmamatanga, whakapūwharu Polish: zakąska (pl) f, przystawka (pl) f Portuguese: aperitivo (pt) m Russian: заку́ска (ru) f (zakúska), переку́ска (ru) f (perekúska), переку́с (ru) m (perekús) Slovak: predkrm m, predjedlo n Spanish: aperitivo (es) m Swedish: förrätt (sv) c Tagalog: pampagana Thai: ออเดิร์ฟ (ɔɔ-də́əp) Turkish: ordövr (tr) Ukrainian: заку́ска f (zakúska), за́куска f (zákuska), пере́куска f (perékuska) Volapük: büzib (vo)

anything of secondary concern

Chinese: Mandarin: 次要的事情 (cìyào de shìqing) Danish: please add this translation if you can Finnish: sivuseikka French: rien (fr), gnognotte (fr) f, broutille (fr) f, pipi de chat (fr) m Portuguese: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Icelandic: (please verify) forréttur m, (please verify) smáréttur m

See also

• canapé
• horse's doovers

References

1. “Meaning of “hors d'oeuvre” in the Cambridge English Dictionary”, in Cambridge Dictionary‎, (Can we date this quote?), archived from the original on 2017-11-24: “UK /ˌɔː ˈdɜːv/ US /ˌɔːr ˈdɝːv/”

French

Etymology

Literally, “apart from the work”, in other words, "apart from the main meal"

Noun

hors d’oeuvre m (plural hors d’oeuvre)

1. Nonstandard spelling of hors d’œuvre.

Usage notes

• The œ ligature is often replaced in contemporary French with oe (the œ character does not appear on AZERTY keyboards), but this is nonstandard.