oeuvre
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From French œuvre, from Old French uevre, from Latin opera (plural of Latin opus), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- (“work”). Doublet of opera, opus, and ure.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
oeuvre (plural oeuvres)
- A work of art.
- 1990 February 22, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes[1]:
- (Calvin) This piece is about the inadequacy of traditional imagery and symbols to convey meaning in today's world. By abandoning representationalism, I'm free to express myself with pure form. Specific interpretation gives way to a more visceral response.
(Hobbes) I notice your oeuvre is monochromatic.
(Calvin) Well c'mon, it's just snow.
- (uncountable, collective) The complete body of an artist's work.
- Synonyms: body of work, complete works
- 1997, Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, Totem Books, Icon Books, →ISBN, page 7:
- Let’s “fictionalize” Foucault’s life by turning it into a biographical account of Foucault and his oeuvre or work.
- 2006, Michel Foucault, “Madness, the absence of an œuvre.”, in Jean Khalfa, transl., edited by Jean Khalfa, In History of Madness, Routledge, →ISBN, pages 541–549:
- There, in that pale region, beneath that essential cover, the twin incompatibility of an œuvre and madness is unveiled; it is the blind spot of each one's possibility, and of their mutual exclusion.
- 2012 April 23, Barbara B. Heyman, “Introduction”, in Samuel Barber: A Thematic Catalogue of the Complete Works, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
- Although, at the onset of my writing this catalogue, his forty-eight opus numbers suggested a small output, in fact his oeuvre comprised more than 100 published and nearly as many unpublished pieces representative of nearly every musical genre.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
work of art
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complete body of works
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Further reading edit
- “oeuvre”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
- “oeuvre”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- “oeuvre”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “oeuvre”, in Collins English Dictionary.
- “oeuvre”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024), “oeuvre”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “oeuvre”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Dutch edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Noun edit
oeuvre n (plural oeuvres, diminutive oeuvretje n)
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
oeuvre f (plural oeuvres)
- Nonstandard spelling of œuvre.
Usage notes edit
- The œ ligature is often replaced in contemporary French with oe (the œ character does not appear on AZERTY keyboards), but this is nonstandard.
Further reading edit
- “oeuvre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams edit
Middle French edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
oeuvre m or f (plural oeuvres)
- work; piece of work