oeuvre

IPA/ˈɜːvrə/
KK[ˈuvrə]IPA/ˈɜːvrə/

oeuvre — noun

  • oeuvresingular
  • oeuvresplural

1. the full set of books, music, films, paintings, or other creative work produced

1.nounC2
Definition

the full set of books, music, films, paintings, or other creative work produced by one person

Example

Critics often divide Akiko's oeuvre into an early Paris period and a later Tokyo one.

divide an oeuvre into artistic periods

The museum bought three drawings to strengthen its collection of Haruto's oeuvre.

collection of + person's oeuvre

Common collocations
  • entire oeuvre
  • early oeuvre
  • later oeuvre
  • poetic oeuvre
  • study someone's oeuvre
Synonyms
  • body of work

    the everyday phrase for everything someone has created

  • output

    broader and often less artistic, with more focus on quantity

  • canon

    stresses the works seen as most important or authentic

  • portfolio

    a selected set shown to others, not always the whole career

Usage Note

Usually used in formal writing about writers, artists, directors, or composers; everyday English more often says body of work or all their work.

Common Mistakes

This short poem is Eliot's oeuvre.
This short poem is one work in Eliot's oeuvre.
'oeuvre' means the whole body of creative work, not a single piece.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Oeuvre is the most formal and arts-focused of these words. It is usually used when critics talk about a writer, artist, composer, or director as a whole across many years. Body of work is the plain everyday choice and can describe creative or non-creative work. Output is broader and often sounds more about quantity or production than artistic value. Canon usually means the works judged most important, central, or genuine, so it may exclude minor pieces. Portfolio is a selected set shown for study, jobs, or clients, not the person's whole career. If you simply mean everything someone made, body of work is safer in normal conversation.

body of workoutput ↗canon ↗portfolio ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • an artist's oeuvre
  • the whole oeuvre
  • early oeuvre
  • later oeuvre

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

English borrowed oeuvre from French, where it means 'work'. The French word goes back to Latin opera, meaning 'works' or 'effort'. In English, oeuvre kept a formal tone and came to mean the complete body of creative work by one artist, writer, or similar figure.