Hors d’oeuvre is a tough one to spell because not only has this double barreled word retained its original French spelling, we in English have changed it’s pronunciation a bit to suit what feels most comfortable on our tongues.

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What I mean is that although we pronounce hors d’oeuvre with an “r” before the “v” it is actually spelled with the “v” before the “r”.

This now English word hors d’oeuvre is really three French words baked into one.

These days hors d’oeuvre likely mean to you finger foods scarfed down at a party.

When the term was first used in French back in 1596, hors d’oeuvre was an architectural term and indicated a piece of masonry that jutted out from the rest building; a ledge or a piece of cornice or something.

The literal meaning of these thee words is

• hors meaning “outside”
• de meaning “of”, and
• oeuvre meaning “work”

Thus hors d’oeuvre literally means “out of [the] work.”

So the main work of the building’s edifice has hors d’oeuvres sticking out of it.

From that start, when hors d’oeuvre first came into English in the early 1700s it meant “something out of the ordinary”  But both in French and in English it very quickly came to mean a little something extra to eat before the main meal; just to get the juices flowing.

In this use it actually retains its original meaning since “the work” in this sense is the creative work of the cook. For a chef the main work is the main meal, so that the hors d’oeuvres are something outside of that main creation.