chou

From French chou (“cabbage”); compare French pâte à choux (“choux pastry”). Doublet of caulis, cole, and kale.

• enPR: sho͞o, IPA^(key): /ʃuː/

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• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophones: shoe, shoo, shew, SHU

chou (plural chous or choux)

1. (baking) Choux pastry, usually in the form of a small round cake with a sweet filling.
2. (fashion) A bunch, knot, or rosette of ribbon or other material, used as an ornament in women's clothing.
   • 1891, Locomotive Engineers Journal, volume 25, page 1146:

     Medium sized chous, or rosettes of the ribbon finish the trimming at bottom of chest opening, and at the waist points back and front.

• Chūō, ouch

Inherited from Old French chous, from Latin caulis, itself akin to or derived from Ancient Greek καυλός (kaulós).

• IPA^(key): /ʃu/

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• Audio (Paris)

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• Homophone: choux
• Rhymes: -u

chou m (plural choux)

1. cabbage

Onomatopoeic.

chou m (plural choux, feminine choute)

1. baby, darling, sweetheart (term of endearment)

chou (feminine choute, masculine plural choux, feminine plural choutes)

1. cute, endearing

Only seven words in French ending in -ou have their plurals in -oux instead of -ous: bijou, caillou, chou, genou, hibou, joujou, pou.

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

chou

1. Rōmaji transcription of ちょう
2. Rōmaji transcription of チョウ

chou

1. Nonstandard spelling of chōu.
2. Nonstandard spelling of chóu.
3. Nonstandard spelling of chǒu.
4. Nonstandard spelling of chòu.

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

chou m (plural chous)

1. Rare spelling of show.

chou (invariable)

1. Rare spelling of show.