bureau

[byoo r-oh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bureau ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural bu·reaus, bu·reaux [byoo r-ohz] /ˈbyʊər oʊz/.

a chest of drawers, often with a mirror at the top.

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

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

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

Origin of bureau

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

Related formssub·bu·reau, noun, plural sub·bu·reaus, sub·bu·reaux.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bureau

division, office, agency, authority, commission, board, committee, department, shop, setup, store, service, sideboard, chiffonier, desk, commode, dresser, highboy

Examples from the Web for bureau

Contemporary Examples of bureau

The Bureau keeps publicly condemning Pyongyang for the Sony hack.
FBI Won’t Stop Blaming North Korea for Sony Hack -- Despite New Evidence
Shane Harris
December 30, 2014
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said that the bureau fully complies with U.S. policy as it relates to ransom payments.
A 26-Year-Old Woman Is ISIS’s Last American Hostage
Shane Harris
November 17, 2014
They say the Department of Justice, the parent agency of the Bureau of Prisons, has reimbursed Treasury for those costs.
Megabanks Have The Federal Prison System Locked Up
Center for Public Integrity
October 2, 2014
JPMorgan, Treasury and the Bureau of Prisons declined to provide a current fee schedule for the cards.
Megabanks Have The Federal Prison System Locked Up
Center for Public Integrity
October 2, 2014
A copy of AA Today, an Alcoholics Anonymous publication, rested atop the bureau.
Football Great Bob Suffridge Wanders Through the End Zone of Life
Paul Hemphill
September 6, 2014

Historical Examples of bureau

I am writing this on the bureau, so that when I lift my eyes I may see It.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
And I know that since the death of Maman Theresa they had hid it in one of the bureau drawers.
The Dream
Emile Zola
Beaufort rose with a desperate effort; he moved to the bureau.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
They undressed again, and Dan put his gun away in his bureau.
The Inn at the Red Oak
Latta Griswold
Well, they tells me—Lawd knows what they calls it bureau for!
Southern Lights and Shadows
Various

British Dictionary definitions for bureau

bureau

noun plural -reaus or -reaux (-rəʊz)

mainly British a writing desk with pigeonholes, drawers, etc, against which the writing surface can be closed when not in use

US a chest of drawers

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

a government department
a branch of a government department

Word Origin for bureau

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

Word Origin and History for bureau

1690s, "desk with drawers, writing desk," from French bureau "office; desk, writing table," originally "cloth covering for a desk," from burel "coarse woolen cloth" (as a cover for writing desks), Old French diminutive of bure "dark brown cloth," which is perhaps either from Latin burrus "red," or from Late Latin burra "wool, shaggy garment." Offices being full of such desks, the meaning expanded 1720 to "division of a government." Meaning "chest of drawers" is from 1770, said to be American English but early in British use.