Hors d’oeuvre

Hors d’oeuvre or the first course, are food items served before the main courses of a meal. The French (singular and plural) is hors d’œuvre; in English, the œ ligature is usually replaced by the digraph “oe” with the plural often written as “hors d’oeuvres” and pronounced /ɔrˈdɜrvz/. It is never pronounced [hɔrz dɘ’vɔrz]. There are several related terms, such as a one-bite appetizer, an amuse-bouche .