bureau

[ byoor-oh ]
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noun,plural bu·reaus, bu·reaux [byoor-ohz]. /ˈbyʊər oʊz/.
  1. a chest of drawers, often with a mirror at the top.

  2. a division of a government department or an independent administrative unit.

  1. an office for collecting or distributing news or information, coordinating work, or performing specified services; agency: a travel bureau; a news bureau.

  2. Chiefly British. a desk or writing table with drawers for papers.

Origin of bureau

1
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; cf. bourrée) + -el noun suffix

Other words from bureau

  • subbureau, noun, plural sub·bu·reaus, sub·bu·reaux.

Words Nearby bureau

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bureau in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bureau

bureau

/ (ˈbjʊərəʊ) /


nounplural -reaus or -reaux (-rəʊz)
  1. mainly British a writing desk with pigeonholes, drawers, etc, against which the writing surface can be closed when not in use

  2. US a chest of drawers

  1. an office or agency, esp one providing services for the public

    • a government department

    • a branch of a government department

Origin of bureau

1
C17: from French: desk, office, originally: type of cloth used for covering desks and tables, from Old French burel, from Late Latin burra shaggy cloth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012