beaufet

Noun

beaufet (plural beaufets)

1. (archaic) A counter for refreshments; a buffet.
   • Mrs. and Miss Bates occupied the drawing-room floor; and there, in the very moderate sized apartment, which was every thing to them, the visitors were most cordially and even gratefully welcomed; the quiet neat old lady, who with her knitting was seated in the warmest corner, wanting even to give...1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter I, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 3
   • What’s that I saw on the beaufet in the other room? It never used to be there. A sort of withered corpse of a cake—not an old bride-cake surely?’1900, Thomas Hardy, “"Enter a Dragoon"”, in A Changed Man and Other Stories, page 157
2. (archaic) A niche, cupboard, or sideboard for plate, china, glass, etc.
   • A spacious beaufet, rising to the height of eight stages, or shelves, and filled with a profusion of gold and silver vessels, somewhat ostentatiously displayed the magnificence of the prelate, or of his sovereign.1855, William H[ickling] Prescott, “English Alliance”, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, book I, page 123