Closet

How to spell closet

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce closet

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does closet mean?

1. nounA small room or built-in cupboard used for storing clothes, linens, or other household items.
2. verbTo shut someone or oneself away in private, usually for a confidential discussion.
3. adjectiveKept private or concealed; describing something a person hides rather than admits openly.

Closet in a sentence

• noun

  She hung her winter coats in the hallway closet.

• verb

  The directors would closet themselves for hours during the merger talks.

• adjective

  His colleagues never guessed he was a closet fan of country music.

• noun

  The landlord installed shelves inside the bedroom closet.

• verb

  The lawyers chose to closet the witness before the hearing.

• adjective

  The politician was rumoured to be a closet supporter of the rival party.

Where does closet come from?

Language of origin: French

Closet entered English in the 1300s from Old French closet, a diminutive of clos, meaning 'an enclosed space' or 'enclosure'. The French clos came in turn from the Latin clausum, the past participle of claudere, which meant 'to shut' or 'to close', so a closet was literally a 'little shut-up place'. Originally it named a small private room where a person could withdraw to study, pray, or keep valuables, and that sense of privacy survives in expressions such as 'closet drama' and 'coming out of the closet'. Over time, especially in American usage, the word narrowed to mean a built-in cupboard for storing clothes. The very same claudere root sits inside 'close', 'enclose', and 'conclude', which is a useful reminder that the single s in closet stands for that shutting action.

How the word is built

• clos- (from Latin clausum: an enclosed space)
• -et (diminutive suffix: a little enclosed room)