sous-chef

noun

The chef underneath the head chef in the chef's hierarchy.

OriginFrench sous-chef →
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Meanings

nounsous-chef (plural sous-chefs)

plural sous-chefs

  1. cookingThe chef underneath the head chef in the chef's hierarchy.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
chef de partiesubchefsubcookunderchefundercook

Origin

  1. Frenchsous-chef
  2. Englishsous-chef

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.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 副廚 /副厨
  • 副廚 /副厨 (fùchú)chef underneath the head chef
Finnish apukokki
  • apukokkichef underneath the head chef
German Souschef
  • Souschefchef underneath the head chef
Indonesian asisten kepala juru masak
  • asisten kepala juru masakchef underneath the head chef
Polish zastępca szefa kuchni
  • zastępca szefa kuchnichef underneath the head chef
Portuguese subchefe, sous-chef
  • subchefechef underneath the head chef
  • sous-chefchef underneath the head chef
Vietnamese bếp phó
  • bếp phóchef underneath the head chef
Cite this entry
APA

sous-chef. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sous-chef

MLA

“sous-chef.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sous-chef. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sous-chef,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sous-chef.

Source: sous-chef on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.