Lévi-Strauss, Claude Syllabification: (Lé·vi-Strauss, Claude)Pronunciation: /ˌlāvē ˈstrous/Definition of Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1908–2009), French social anthropologist. He regarded language as an essential common denominator underlying cultural phenomena. Lévi-Strauss, Claude in other Oxford dictionaries Definition of Lévi-Strauss, Claude in the British & World English dictionary