bureau
- 1A government office or administrative unit, such as a department or agency.
The Census Bureau released new population figures for every county this morning.
Funding cuts forced the bureau to close three of its regional offices.
UsagePlural bureaus or bureaux. Capitalized in names: the Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Similaragency, department, office
- 2An office or organization whose work is gathering or supplying information or news.
The network's Washington bureau broke the story an hour before its rivals.
The newspaper closed its Paris bureau last year and now relies on wire services for news from France.
UsageUsually with a word in front: a news bureau, a travel bureau, or a place: the Washington bureau.
- 3A chest of drawers used for storing clothes.
She folded the sweaters and stacked them in the bottom drawer of her bureau.
The antique oak bureaus in the guest rooms still had their original brass pulls.
UsageIn British English a bureau is a writing desk; chest of drawers is clear everywhere.
Similardresser
Less common meanings
- 4A writing desk, usually with a cover and with compartments set above the writing surface rather than below it, often used for storing papers.
She lowered the flap of the walnut bureau and sorted the household accounts into its pigeonholes.
The auction included a Georgian mahogany bureau with a fitted interior of small drawers.
UsageIn American use a bureau is a chest of drawers for clothes instead.
Similardesk
Note
The furniture sense sits closest to the word's origin: French bureau once meant coarse woolen cloth, the baize laid over a desk as a cover, and the name passed from the cloth to the desk beneath it.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The desk sense developed from the French name for woolen cloth used to cover desks, preceding the office and administrative senses. en.wikipedia.org
- 5An office: a room where clerical or professional work is done.
Nick opened the bureau door and told Joan he was going to find Susan. He walked to the cafeteria, but it was empty. He went back to the bureau, and asked Joan to check the restrooms.
2015, Dan Riker, The Blue Girl Murders
Practice
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Origin
English uses the French word bureau unchanged. In French it first meant a coarse cloth, such as baize, laid over a desk. It goes back to Old French burel ("woolen cloth"), a diminutive of *bure (related to Middle French bure, a "coarse cloth of wool," and French bourre, "fluff, hair"), and further to Late Latin burra ("coarse fabric, shaggy cloth, wool, fluff"). Ancient Greek βερβέριον (berbérion, "shabby garment") is akin. Burel and borrel, which came from Old French, are doublets.