Nearby Words
noun, plural bu·reaus, bu·reaux 
[byoor-ohz] .
[byoor-ohz] . 1.
a chest of drawers, often with a mirror at the top.
2.
a division of a government department or an independent administrative unit.
3.
an office for collecting or distributing news or information, coordinating work, or performing specified services; agency: a travel bureau; a news bureau.
4.
Chiefly British. a desk or writing table with drawers for papers.
Origin:
1710–20; < French: desk, office, originally a kind of cloth (used to cover desks, etc.), Anglo-French, Old French burel, equivalent to bur- (probably < *būra, variant of Late Latin burra wool, fluff; compare bourrée) + -el noun suffix
1710–20; < French: desk, office, originally a kind of cloth (used to cover desks, etc.), Anglo-French, Old French burel, equivalent to bur- (probably < *būra, variant of Late Latin burra wool, fluff; compare bourrée) + -el noun suffix
Related forms
sub·bu·reau, noun, plural sub·bu·reaus, sub·bu·reaux.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Bureau
is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
bureau
1690s, from Fr. bureau "office, desk," originally "cloth covering for a desk," from burel "coarse woolen cloth" (as a cover for writing desks), O.Fr. dim. of bure "dark brown cloth," which is perhaps either from L. burrus "red," or from L.L. burra "wool, shaggy garment." Offices being full of such desks,
EXPANDthe meaning expanded 1720 to "division of a government."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
bureau
in the United States, a chest of drawers; in Europe a writing desk, usually with a hinged writing flap that rests at a sloping angle when closed and, when opened, reveals a tier of pigeonholes, small drawers, and sometimes a small cupboard. The bureau (French: "office") first appeared in France at the beginning of the 17th century as just a flat table with drawers below the top, the bureau plat. By Louis XIV's reign, a kneehole type was in use, with a tier of drawers on each side and a single drawer in the centre above a space for the knees.
Learn more about bureau with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Word Dynamo Rating For Bureau
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