Bureau Definition & Meaning

American

British

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms bureau American [byoor-oh] / ˈbyʊər oʊ /

noun

plural

bureaus, bureaux

1. a chest of drawers, often with a mirror at the top.

2. a division of a government department or an independent administrative unit.

3. an office for collecting or distributing news or information, coordinating work, or performing specified services; agency.

   a travel bureau; a news bureau.

4. Chiefly British. a desk or writing table with drawers for papers.

bureau British / ˈbjʊərəʊ /

noun

1. a writing desk with pigeonholes, drawers, etc, against which the writing surface can be closed when not in use

2. a chest of drawers

3. an office or agency, esp one providing services for the public

4. 1. a government department

   2. a branch of a government department

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

• subbureau noun

Etymology

Origin of bureau

1710–20; < French: desk, office, originally a kind of cloth (used to cover desks, etc.), Anglo-French, Old French burel, equivalent to bur- (probably < *būra, variant of Late Latin burra wool, fluff ; bourrée ) + -el noun suffix

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

McDonnell has taken steps to streamline the LAPD’s operations, including folding the department’s four homicide bureaus into the Robbery-Homicide Division and updating the department’s patrol plan to account for the department being down fewer officers.

From Los Angeles Times

The bureau wants to narrow how it enforces the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, a 1974 law.

From MarketWatch

Slovakia's parliament voted to abolish the whistleblower protection bureau on December 9 and replace it with a new body under the authority of the government.

From Barron's

The Philippine immigration bureau told the BBC that they were in the country from 1 November to 28 November.

From BBC

In a Feb. 14 memo addressed to the leadership of the State Department’s Africa bureau, Adler asked the administration to release money to keep people alive.

From Salon

Related Words

• agency
• authority
• board
• commission
• committee
• department
• division
• office

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.