escritoire
English edit
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Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From French, from escrire, obsolete form of écrire + -oire, indicating a tool or object. Doublet of scriptorium.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
escritoire (plural escritoires)
- A writing desk with a hinged door that provides the writing surface.
- 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, pages 199–200:
- To surprise him, by finding on his table the books he liked, or the escritoire he had occasion for, gave Louisa the most delightful moments life had hitherto afforded her;...
- 1857, Herman Melville, chapter II, in The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade:
- Fine promenades, domed saloons, long galleries, sunny balconies, confidential passages, bridal chambers, state-rooms plenty as pigeon-holes, and out-of-the-way retreats like secret drawers in an escritoire, present like facilities for publicity or privacy.
- 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 561:
- Rosemary sat at her Public Works Department escritoire, in a sea of fed cats, and tried to write a letter to Vythilingam.
Synonyms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
A writing desk with a hinged door
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