Etymograph

English

chez

Chez comes from French chez ‘to, at, in or into the place of’, and goes back to Latin casa ‘house’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcasa1‘house’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chies1
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600chez1
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentchez2‘to, at, in or into the place of’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2008chez2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French chez
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English chez
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Lisa Forest, Mind the gap: Empty house, empty nest, empty fridge: “Even if I say so myself, Christmas chez the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcasaWiktionary, French chez‘house’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chiesWiktionary, French chez
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600chezWiktionary, French chez
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentchezWiktionary, English chez‘to, at, in or into the place of’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2008chezWiktionary, English chez. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Lisa Forest, Mind the gap: Empty house, empty nest, empty fridge: “Even if I say so myself, Christmas chez the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kat- ‘to link or weave together’

chain, 6 more

through Latin casa ‘house’

casino, casa, 6 more

Today it means

prep At the home of.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chez”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for French chez. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin casa / chez