bureau
UK/ˈbjʊ.ɹəʊ//ˈbjʊ.ɹoʊ/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
bureau noun: an administrative unit of government; office.
Noun
bureau (plural bureaus or bureaux)
- An administrative unit of government; office.
- Ashley Johnson is an energy, trade and economics expert at the National Bureau of Asian Research, based in the United States.2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns
- An organization or office for collecting or providing information or news.
- a news bureau; a travel bureau; a service bureau; an employment bureau; the Citizens Advice Bureau
- Newt Gingrich gives powerful testimony to the appeal of “the last word in content providership” — speakers’ bureaus.2012 May 5, Henry Alford, “Future TED Talks”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 May 2012
- An office (room where clerical or professional duties are performed).
- There was an eerie silence in the dorm [... in] the factory. [...] The lamp glowed in his bureau, warm and reassuring and, through the window, I could see his papers strewn across the desk. [...] I called his name again. A movement from his bureau. [...] I banged on his door until it opened a...2015, Victoria Delderfield, Secret Mother
- Both my ability to comprehend what is being said [in French] and my ability to fake comprehension have improved expeditiously. Monsieur holds the door open for me as we step inside his bureau. No one looks up as we enter. He offers me a seat, and when I fail to take it he returns to my side of the...2010, Ellie Nielsen, Buying a Piece of Paris: A Memoir, page 17
- A desk, usually with a cover and compartments that are located above the level of the writing surface rather than underneath, and often used for storing papers.
- A chest of drawers for clothes.
Proper noun capitalized: Bureau
Bureau
- A surname from French.
bureau meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
bureau in Hindi
- unit of governance, office
- मंत्रालय mantrālay, विभाग vibhāg
- office (room)
- कार्यालय kāryālay, कार्यशाला kāryaśālā
bureau in Tamil
- செயலகம், பணியகம், நிறுவனம், அலுவலகம், அமைவனம், கழகம்
bureau in Urdu
- office (room)
- دَفْتَر daftar
bureau in Bengali
- অফিস, বিভাগ
More languagesFewer languages
- bureau in Telugu
- బీరువా bīruvā
- bureau in Malayalam
- എഴുത്തുമേശ, കാര്യാലയം
- bureau in Kannada
- ವಿಭಾಗ, ದಳ, ಕಾರ್ಯಾಲಯ, ಕಚೇರಿ
- bureau in Tagalog
- kawanihan
- bureau in Arabic
- مَكْتَب maktab
- bureau in Malay
- biro
- bureau in Indonesian
- biro
- bureau in Vietnamese
- văn phòng, sự giúp đỡ
- bureau in Myanmar
- ဗျူရို byurui, ဗီရို birui
Examples of bureau in a sentence
- A movement from his bureau. [...] I banged on his door until it opened a crack[. ...] He pushed me out onto the staircase.2015, Victoria Delderfield, Secret Mother:
- Monsieur holds the door open for me as we step inside his bureau.2010, Ellie Nielsen, Buying a Piece of Paris: A Memoir, page 17:
- Nick opened the bureau door and told Joan he was going to find Susan.2015, Dan Riker, The Blue Girl Murders, page 287:
Synonyms of bureau
Forms of bureau
| plural | bureaus |
|---|---|
| plural | bureaux |
Origin of bureau
Unadapted borrowing from French bureau, earlier "coarse cloth (as desk cover), baize", from Old French burel (“woolen cloth”), diminutive of *bure (compare 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 (berbérion, “shabby garment”). Doublet of burel and borrel, taken from Old French.
Words formed from bureau
Phrases with bureau
Words that rhyme with bureau
Questions about bureau
- What does bureau mean?
- Bureau means an administrative unit of government; office.
- What is bureau in Hindi?
- Bureau in Hindi is मंत्रालय (mantrālay), विभाग (vibhāg), कार्यालय (kāryālay). See Bureau meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use bureau in a sentence?
- A movement from his bureau. [...] I banged on his door until it opened a crack[. ...] He pushed me out onto the staircase.
- What part of speech is bureau?
- Bureau can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce bureau?
- Bureau is pronounced /ˈbjʊ.ɹəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of bureau?
- The plural of bureau is bureaus.
Words near bureau in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bureau (page history and authors); Bureau (page history and authors); bureau (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bureau (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); బీరువా (Telugu) (page history and authors); bureau (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bureau (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bureau.ogg, en-us-ne-bureau.ogg.
Cite this entry: “bureau.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bureau. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.