escritoire

American  

[es-kri-twahr] / ˌɛs krɪˈtwɑr /

noun

1. writing desk.

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escritoire British  

/ ˌɛskrɪˈtwɑː /

noun

1. a writing desk with compartments and drawers, concealed by a hinged flap, on a chest of drawers or plain stand

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Etymology

Origin of escritoire

1605–15; < French, Middle French < Latin scrīptōrium. See scribe ¹, -tory ²

Example Sentences

They pled with the few who still loaded sideboards and escritoires into tenders.

From Literature

I write on an outsize table, not a neat escritoire — as if I might be cutting film or pasting up collages.

From New York Times

It’s such a good system that I ended up producing escritoires with a friend who has a furniture factory called SwitzerCultCreative.

From New York Times

The script reveals a fascination with the Oxford dictionary definition of the word "escritoire", as you might expect from two ambitious autodidacts.

From The Guardian

The day after the funeral, had been appointed for the perusal of the will,  which was, my mother said, with other papers of consequence, in a private drawer of my father's escritoire.

From Project Gutenberg