Bureau

How to spell bureau

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bureau

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bureau mean?

1. nounAn office, department, or agency that gathers information or provides a particular service.
2. nounA piece of furniture: in British use a writing desk with drawers, and in American use a chest of drawers for clothes.

Bureau in a sentence

• The credit bureau updated her score after the loan was repaid.

• She kept her folded sweaters in the bedroom bureau.

• He filed the complaint with the consumer protection bureau.

• He sat at the antique bureau to write the letters by hand.

Where does bureau come from?

Language of origin: French

Bureau came into English in the 1600s straight from French, where it meant a writing desk. The French word grew out of the Old French burel, a coarse reddish-brown woollen cloth that was once draped over such desks to protect them, and burel itself traces back to the Late Latin burra, meaning 'shaggy cloth' or 'wool'. Over time the name of the cloth transferred first to the desk it covered, then to the room containing the desk, and finally to the office or department that worked there, which is how we arrive at modern senses like the Federal Bureau or a travel bureau. The same root gives us 'bureaucracy', literally rule by the desk or office. The spelling keeps its French shape entirely, and the unusual '-eau' ending, sounded simply as 'oh', is the trap that catches confident adult spellers.

How the word is built

• bureau (from French burel: coarse woollen cloth used to cover writing desks)