Oeuvre is a loan word or borrowed word, taken from the French. We will examine the meaning of oeuvre, where the word came from and some examples of its use in sentences.
An oeuvre is the body of work of an artist, the collected output of an author, painter, composer, sculptor, etc. An oeuvre is the entire output of a creative person, considered in its entirety. The plural form of the word is oeuvres. Oeuvre is a French word, absorbed into the English language in its original form. In French, the word oeuvre means work. It is derived from the Latin word opera which means effort or work. While oeuvre means the body of work of an artist, most English speakers are familiar with the word oeuvre through the term hors d’oeuvre, which is a term for appetizers. Hors d’ouevre literally means out of work, in this case describing tidbits which are served and eaten outside of the meal.
Examples
The artistic oeuvre of Surya Prakash was amalgamated into a retrospective show which was recently exhibited at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru. (The Deccan Chronicle)
If the more intimate side of the frisky Finn’s story seems insufficiently liberated on screen — any kinky content here is pure vanilla relative to the rocky road of Tom’s own oeuvre — the film’s compromises should at least yield a wider, welcome audience for its rainbow flag-waving. (Variety Magazine)
Between 2002 and 2008, alongside his artistic oeuvre, he trained himself as a graphic designer, editor of commercials and motion graphics designer which allowed him to work with several advertising agencies. (The Slovak Spectator)
Indeed, these paintings serve as an apt introduction to this father and daughter’s artistic œuvre. (The Times of Malta)