bureau

English

Etymology

Borrowing from French bureau, earlier "coarse cloth (as desk cover), baize", from Old French burel (“woolen cloth”), diminutive of *bure (cf. Middle French bure (“coarse woolen cloth”), French bourre (“hair, fluff”)), from Late Latin burra (“wool, fluff, shaggy cloth, coarse fabric”); akin to Ancient Greek (berberion, “shabby garment”).

Pronunciation

enPR: byo͝orʹō, IPA: /ˈbjʊɹ.əʊ/, X-SAMPA: /"bjUr\.@U/
Audio (US)
(file)
Rhymes: -ʊəɹəʊ

Noun

bureau (plural bureaux or bureaus)

Office.
Desk, usually with a cover and compartments for storing papers etc. located above the level of the writing surface rather than underneath.
(US) Chest of drawers for clothes.

Related terms

Translations

office

Breton: burev (br)
Bulgarian: кантора (bg) (kantóra) f, бюро (bg) (bjuró) n
Crimean Tatar: büro (crh)
Czech: úřad (cs) m
Dutch: agentschap (nl) n, kantoor (nl) n, bureau (nl) n
Faroese: skrivstova (fo) f
Finnish: toimisto (fi), virasto (fi)
French: agence (fr) f, bureau (fr) m
German: Büro (de) n
Hebrew: לשכה (he) (lishka) f

Italian: ufficio (it) m
Malay: biro (ms)
Maltese: uffiċċju (mt) m
Portuguese: escritório (pt) m
Russian: бюро (ru) (bjuró) n (indeclinable), контора (ru) (kontóra) f, офис (ru) (ófis) m
Spanish: oficina (es) f
Swedish: byrå (sv) c
Tagalog: kawanihan (tl)

desk

Armenian: գրասեղան (hy) (graseġan)
Bulgarian: писалище (bg) (pisálište) n, бюро (bg) (bjuró) n
Dutch: bureau (nl) n, bureel (nl) n
Finnish: työpöytä (fi), kirjoituspöytä (fi)
French: secrétaire (fr) m, bureau (fr) m
German: Sekretär (de) m, Schreibtisch (de) m, Büro (de) n
Hebrew: שולחן (he)

Hungarian: szekreter (hu)
Italian: scrivania (it) f, scrittoio (it) m
Maltese: skrivanija (mt)
Portuguese: mesa (pt), escrivaninha (pt)
Russian: бюро (ru) (bjuró) n (indeclinable), письменный стол (ru) (písʹmennyj stol) m, конторка (ru) (kontórka) f (colloquial), секретер (ru) (sekretɛ́r) m
Spanish: escritorio (es) m