bureau

[byoor-oh]

noun

plural

bureaus, bureaux 

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.

bureau

/ ˈbjʊərəʊ /

noun

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

2. a chest of drawers

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

4. 1. a government department

   2. a branch of a government department

Other Word Forms

• subbureau noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bureau¹

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 ; bourrée ) + -el noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of bureau¹

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

Example Sentences

Michael McRoberts is a Northwestern graduate in biomedical engineering who spent much of his career designing debt-collection strategies for a credit bureau.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It’s a fake and fabricated case by the state and anticorruption bureau,” one of his lawyers said on Thursday.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“The public has a right to know how the government and military are operating,” wrote New York Times Washington bureau chief Richard Stevenson.

Read more on Salon

That bureau will create a process to determine whether someone is the descendant of a slave and to certify someone’s claim to help them access benefits.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The bureau didn’t respond to an inquiry about how many such waivers have been granted.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• agency 
• authority 
• board 
• commission 
• committee 
• department 
• division 
• office