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suif

tallow, suet

noun SWEEF Rare

Origin: Old French seu, from Latin sebum (fat, grease)

Usage Note

Suif is the rendered fat from cattle or sheep, traditionally used for candles and soap. In colloquial French, il y a du suif signals that trouble is brewing — an informal idiom unrelated to the culinary sense. The final f is pronounced.

Examples

"Les bougies d'autrefois étaient faites de suif."

Natural Translation

Candles of the past were made from tallow.

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