levi-strauss: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
C1+ / Rare / TechnicalFormal, Academic, Historical
Quick answer
What does “levi-strauss” mean?
A proper noun referring to the French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, founder of structural anthropology.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A proper noun referring to the French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, founder of structural anthropology.
The term is used metonymically to refer to his theoretical work, structural anthropology, or anthropological structuralism. It is commonly seen in academic discourse.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in usage. In both varieties, the name retains its French diacritic (é) in careful writing, though often omitted in English contexts.
Connotations
Strongly academic and theoretical. Connotes complex analysis of culture, myth, and kinship.
Frequency
Extremely low frequency in general English. Used almost exclusively in anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and literary theory.
Grammar
How to Use “levi-strauss” in a Sentence
Levi-Strauss argued that...the theories of Levi-Straussan approach derived from Levi-StraussVocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “levi-strauss” in a Sentence
adjective
British English
- The Levi-Straussian method focuses on underlying structures.
American English
- She offered a Levi-Straussian analysis of the folktale.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Not used.
Academic
Primary context. Used in anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and literary theory to discuss structuralist methods.
Everyday
Virtually never used.
Technical
Specifically refers to his methodological framework for analyzing kinship, myth, and cultural systems.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “levi-strauss”
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “levi-strauss”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “levi-strauss”
- Misspelling as 'Levi Strauss' (the jeans founder) without the hyphen or diacritic.
- Using it as a common noun.
- Pronouncing 'Strauss' as /strɔːs/ (like the composer) instead of /straʊs/.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-2009) was a French anthropologist. Levi Strauss & Co. is an American clothing company founded by a different person.
It is the theoretical approach developed by Lévi-Strauss, which analyzes cultural phenomena (like kinship and myth) as systems of signs governed by underlying, universal structures of the human mind.
In English, it is commonly pronounced /ˌleɪ.vi ˈstraʊs/. The first part rhymes with 'navy', and the second rhymes with 'house'.
Yes, in academic writing, 'Levi-Straussian' is the standard adjectival form (e.g., 'a Levi-Straussian framework').
A proper noun referring to the French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, founder of structural anthropology.
Levi-strauss is usually formal, academic, historical in register.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “A Levi-Straussian reading (of a text/culture)”
- “In the vein of Levi-Strauss”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of blue jeans (Levi's) creating a 'structure' (Strauss -> structuralism) for understanding culture. Levi-Strauss structured our view of culture.
Conceptual Metaphor
CULTURE IS A LANGUAGE (his work posits that cultural systems, like language, are structured by underlying rules and binary oppositions).
Practice
Quiz
In which field is the name 'Levi-Strauss' primarily used?