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.

He met with Joe Rittenhouse, a senior adviser for the department’s Consular Affairs bureau, who called Robinson a “free speech warrior” in a post on X about the meeting.

From The Wall Street Journal

He is based in Europe but roving widely, working with bureau chiefs and reporters to catalyze our best reporting from the field.

From The Wall Street Journal

Benjamin Katz is a reporter writing about the global aviation and aerospace industry in The Wall Street Journal’s corporate bureau in London.

From The Wall Street Journal

Robert McMillan writes about computer security, hackers and privacy from The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau.

From The Wall Street Journal

Jacob Bunge is deputy bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal’s Chicago corporate news bureau, which covers agriculture, food companies, restaurants, manufacturing and airlines.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.