Oeuvre
Definition: an artist’s body of work
It’s literally French for “work.” So, to discuss “Picasso’s oeuvre” is to simply discuss Picasso’s work.
It’s pronounced differently in English and French, and, honestly, I got a lot of different opinions on it. The two most popular:
- One syllable, rhymes with “swerve” (take away the “sw”)
- Two syllables: “ove-rah” or “erve-rah”
Why I Looked It Up
From Spooked: The Trump Dossier, Black Cube, and the Rise of Private Spies:
Christopher Steele’s first memo about Donald Trump’s ties to Moscow would endure as the masterpiece of his oeuvre…