‖ sous-, prefix
(su, suz)
representing OF. and mod.F. sous (:—L. subtus) ‘under’, ‘sub-’, in a few words directly adopted from French, as the ME. † sous-prior [OF. souspriour, mod.F. -prieur], subprior; † sous-cellarer [OF. souscelleriere fem.], under-cellarer; and the later or modern sous-basha, -chef, -lieutenant, -ministre, -officier, -prefect, -préfecture, -préfet [F. sous-préfet].
| (a) 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10144 Þe sousprior of hor hous þe monekes chose echon. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 22237, I am Sowcelerere Off this place, and Pytauncere. |
| 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 279 The Officer whom in Turky they call the *Sous-basha. |
| 1825–40 F. Burney Jrnls. & Lett. (1980) VIII. 49 M. d'Arblay continued in his humbler office, of *sous chef to one of the Bureaux de l'Interieur. 1902 A. Bennett Grand Babylon Hotel xxi. 238 We have found in our second sous-chef an artist. 1973 New Society 15 Nov. 412/2, I gradually pieced together the hierarchy. After the chef..came Jacko, the sous-chef. 1980 N. Freeling Castang's City i. 1 Lasserre was a Commissaire... He was the sous-chef, the Chief of Staff. |
| 1841 Lever C. O'Malley 1. 267, I was two days ago, chasseur à cheval, a *sous-lieutenant in the regiment of my father. |
| 1855 Chamb. Jrnl. 24 Feb. 113/1 This Lord Milton was the acting *sous-ministre for Scotland in the administration of Walpole. |
| 1826 H. D. Beste Four Yrs. France 318 He engaged a *sous-officier to come daily to the house to teach him the manual exercise. 1895 E. Dowson Let. 2 Oct. (1967) 316 Owing to a great demand for lodgings by officiers and sous-officiers, we found it..impossible to find what we wanted. 1972 G. Bell Villains Galore vi. 68 He had been a sous-officier in the [Foreign] Legion. |
| 1889 Gunter That Frenchman xvii. 215 The imperial guardsman and *sous-prefect of the secret police. |
| 1940 J. Joyce Let. 16 Sept. (1966) III. 487 Our applications..passed through the *sous-préfecture of this department this morning. 1976 N. Freeling Lake Isle viii. 43 Soulay was a sous-préfecture, and sub-prefects are small beer. |
| 1865 L. Booth in S. Pakenham Sixty Miles from England (1967) v. 67 Etiquette expects yearly residents to leave cards on the *Sous-Préfet. 1944 H. Nicolson Let. 27 June (1967) 382 They went to the souspréfecture. The sous-préfet..had been secretary to Pucheu. 1974 E. Ambler Dr Frigo iii. 186 The sous-Préfet assured me of his most distinguished sentiments. |