secretaire
[sek-ri-tair]
- any writing desk resembling a secretary.
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Origin of secretaire
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 ThinEmile Zola
She sat down at the secretaire, and glanced over the page of figures.
The Fat and the ThinEmile Zola
And he tapped the veneered top of the secretaire with his forefinger.
The Lion's SkinRafael Sabatini
She had closed and locked the secretaire and she handed the man the key.
The Green RustEdgar Wallace
Mrs. Soher began to dust a secretaire, talking all the while to her niece.
The Silver LiningJohn Roussel
secretaire
- 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
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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