Word.ws English Dictionary

chees and chaws

UK/t͡ʃiːz ənd t͡ʃɔːz/

chees and chaws noun: the sounds made in Italianate pronunciation of Latin.

Noun

chees and chaws pl (plural only)

  1. (dated, derogatory, plural, plural-only) The sounds made in Italianate pronunciation of Latin.
    • […] a quite recent notice in The Times of a Bach performance at the Albert Hall by a famous society regretted that, at this time of day, the “chees and chaws” of Italian pronunciation should be offered to an audience.1943 June, The Gramophone, volume 21, page 18
    • The Italian pronunciation of Latin with ch instead of c, benedichere for benedicere, became fashionable and was mocked by conservative Catholics as chees and chaws.1966, Owen Chadwick, The Victorian Church, volume 1, page 283

Origin of chees and chaws

Onomatopoeic, from the Italianate pronunciation of c as /t͡ʃ/ (“ch”) before i and e.

Questions about chees and chaws

What does chees and chaws mean?
Chees and chaws means the sounds made in Italianate pronunciation of Latin.
What part of speech is chees and chaws?
Chees and chaws is a noun.
How do you pronounce chees and chaws?
Chees and chaws is pronounced /t͡ʃiːz ənd t͡ʃɔːz/ (UK).

Words near chees and chaws in the dictionary

  1. cheersing
  2. cheersome
  3. cheery
  4. cheery-bye
  5. chees
  6. chees and chaws
  7. cheesable
  8. cheese
  9. cheese and bread
  10. cheese and crackers
  11. cheese and rice

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: chees and chaws (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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