Bureau Definition

byo͝orō

bureaus, bureaux

noun

bureaus, bureaux

A writing table or desk, with drawers for papers.

Webster's New World

A chest of drawers, with or without a mirror, as for clothing.

Webster's New World

An agency for collecting and giving information or performing other services.

A credit bureau, a travel bureau.

Webster's New World

An office, usually of a large organization, that is responsible for a specific duty.

A news bureau.

American Heritage

A government department, or a subdivision of a government department.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

pronoun

A botanical plant name author abbreviation for botanist Louis Édouard Bureau (1830-1918).

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Bureau

Singular:

bureau

Plural:

bureaux, bureaus

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 βερβέριον (berberion, “shabby garment”). [Greek?]

From Wiktionary
French cloth cover for desks, desk, office from Old French burel woolen cloth probably from Vulgar Latin būra from Late Latin burra shaggy garment

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition