bureau

American  

[byoor-oh] / ˈbjʊər oʊ /

noun

• bureaus,
  plural
• bureaux
  plural

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.

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bureau British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subbureau
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bureaus
  plural
• bureaux
  plural

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Etymology

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

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Explanation

When you put your socks away, you'll most likely put them in a bureau, or a chest of drawers used for storing clothes. Hopefully you've washed them. A dresser or a chest of drawers can also be called a bureau, a piece of furniture with drawers for storing things. Another meaning of bureau is "an office or government agency." These two definitions seem unrelated, but the original meaning of the French word bureau, "cloth covering for a desk" helps explain. Bureau gradually evolved to mean first just "desk" (and eventually "dresser"), and around 1720 it also started being used to mean a room full of desks, or an office.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bureau bureaus bureaux

The bureau added it was working on the investigation with the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Manfred D, who was Hanning's bureau chief and remained in the BND until this year, is charged with aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

County sheriff’s recruitment and training facility, a special enforcement bureau, multiple sheriff’s stations and L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

In a report in July, the PIJ claimed the bureau had received a complaint alleging US intelligence believed top Malawi military personnel may have helped to secretly funnel heavy weaponry to Sudan.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

On my way out, I stepped on a plastic animal figurine that had fallen off the top of my bureau days before.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

CNN and CBS News are expected to consolidate some of their operations, such as its overseas bureaus.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Months later, he signed AB 238, a Harabedian bill that provided for 12 months of mortgage relief and banned late fees, foreclosures and negative reports to credit bureaus for homeowners who receive it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

The company said it alerted the collection agency in question as well as the credit bureaus to the mistake.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026

Kathleen Hughes, a former reporter in the Journal's New York and Los Angeles bureaus, writes about travel and lifestyle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

It’s the matching bedspreads, the night tables, the lamps, the bureaus, the doubleness of everything in their room, that gives me this impression.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Guests were seen hugging, making calls, texting friends and loved ones, and their news bureaux.

From Barron's ● Apr. 26, 2026

Last year Russian state media claimed that RT had seven bureaux in Africa, although this cannot be independently verified.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2025

In another measure intended to curb foreign-currency trading, Nigeria has closed thousands of bureaux de change.

From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2024

With little more premeditation than a gut sense of which bureaux were likely to be opening up soon, I blurted “Tokyo!”

From The Guardian ● May 25, 2016

The main body of the building was exclusively assigned to the Governor's use, the upper part being inhabited by him, while his bureaux, or "Chancellery," occupied the ground-floor.

From No Surrender by E. T. C. (Edward Theodore Chalmers) Werner

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Related Words

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

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