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secretaire

[sek-ri-tair]
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noun French Furniture.
  1. any writing desk resembling a secretary.
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Origin of secretaire

1810–20; < French secrétaire secretary
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for secretaire

Historical Examples

  • She got up and went back to the secretaire, as if trying to restrain herself.

    The Fat and the Thin

    Emile Zola

  • She sat down at the secretaire, and glanced over the page of figures.

  • And he tapped the veneered top of the secretaire with his forefinger.

    The Lion's Skin

    Rafael Sabatini

  • She had closed and locked the secretaire and she handed the man the key.

    The Green Rust

    Edgar Wallace

  • Mrs. Soher began to dust a secretaire, talking all the while to her niece.

    The Silver Lining

    John Roussel

British Dictionary definitions for secretaire

secretaire

noun
  1. an enclosed writing desk, usually having an upper cabinet section
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Word Origin

C19: from French secrétaire; see secretary
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 secretaire

n.

cabinet for private papers, 1771, from French secrétaire (13c.), from Medieval Latin secretarius (see secretary). Englished form secretary is attested in this sense from 1803.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper