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; < F: desk, office, orig. a kind of cloth (used to cover desks, etc.), AF, OF burel, equiv. to bur- (prob. < *būra, var. of LL burra wool, fluff; cf. bourrée) + -el n. suffix
bu·reau (byŏŏr'ō) n.
pl.bu·reaus or bu·reaux (-ōz)
A chest of drawers, especially a dresser for holding clothes.
Chiefly British A writing desk or writing table with drawers.
A government department or a subdivision of a department.
An office, usually of a large organization, that is responsible for a specific duty: a news bureau.
A business that offers information of a specified kind: a travel bureau.
[French, cloth cover for desks, desk, office, from Old French burel, woolen cloth, probably from Vulgar Latin *būra, from Late Latin burra, shaggy garment.]
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