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coffer

7 dictionary results for: Coffer

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

cof·fer

[kaw-fer, kof-er] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a box or chest, esp. one for valuables.

2.	coffers, a treasury; funds: The coffers of the organization were rapidly filled by the contributions.

3.	any of various boxlike enclosures, as a cofferdam.

4.	Also called caisson, lacunar. Architecture. one of a number of sunken panels, usually square or octagonal, in a vault, ceiling, or soffit.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to deposit or lay up in or as in a coffer or chest.

6.	to ornament with coffers or sunken panels.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME cofre < OF ≪ L cophinus basket; see coffin

]

—Related forms

cof·fer·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

cof·fer (kô'fər, kŏf'ər) Pronunciation Key
n.

A strongbox.
often coffers
1. Financial resources; funds.
2. A treasury: stole money from the union coffers.
Architecture A decorative sunken panel in a ceiling, dome, soffit, or vault.
The chamber formed by a canal lock.
A cofferdam.
A floating dock.

tr.v. cof·fered, cof·fer·ing, cof·fers

To put in a coffer.
Architecture To supply (a ceiling, for example) with decorative sunken panels.

[Middle English cofre, from Old French, alteration of *cofne, from Latin cophinus, basket; see coffin.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
coffer

c.1250, from O.Fr. cofre "a chest," from L. cophinus "basket" (see coffin).

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

coffer
noun
1.	an ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome
2.	a chest especially for storing valuables

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Coffer

Cof"fer\ (?; 115), n. [OF. cofre, F. coffre, L. cophinus basket, fr. Gr. ?. Cf. Coffin, n.]

1. A casket, chest, or trunk; especially, one used for keeping money or other valuables. --Chaucer.

In ivory coffers I have stuffed my crowns. --Shak.

2. Fig.: Treasure or funds; -- usually in the plural.

He would discharge it without any burden to the queen's coffers, for honor sake. --Bacon.

Hold, here is half my coffer. --Shak.

3. (Arch.) A panel deeply recessed in the ceiling of a vault, dome, or portico; a caisson.

4. (Fort.) A trench dug in the bottom of a dry moat, and extending across it, to enable the besieged to defend it by a raking fire.

5. The chamber of a canal lock; also, a caisson or a cofferdam.

Coffer dam. (Engin.) See Cofferdam, in the Vocabulary.

Coffer fish. (Zo["o]l.) See Cowfish.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Coffer

Cof"fer\, v. t. 1. To put into a coffer. --Bacon.

2. (Mining.) To secure from leaking, as a shaft, by ramming clay behind the masonry or timbering. --Raymond.

3. To form with or in a coffer or coffers; to furnish with a coffer or coffers.

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Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Coffer

the receptacle or small box placed beside the ark by the Philistines, in which they deposited the golden mice and the emerods as their trespass-offering (1 Sam. 6:8, 11, 15).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

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