Word.ws English Dictionary

coffer

UK/ˈkɒfə//ˈkɔfɚ/

coffer noun: a strong chest or box used for keeping money or valuables safe.

coffer: a strong chest or box used for keeping money or valuables safe
Image: CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

coffer (plural coffers)

  1. A strong chest or box used for keeping money or valuables safe.
    • "There is nothing in that," said Guido, "but a genealogy of the Carraras, drawn up by my grandfather. We have kept this little ebony coffer for the sake of its curious carving. The marriage of Cana is beautifully wrought on its lid."1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 163
    Synonyms:
    strongbox
  2. An ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome.
    • Prolapsed and waterstained ceiling, the sagging coffers.1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, page 135
    Synonyms:
    caisson
  3. A temporary watertight structure used during underwater construction of bridges, causeways, ships, etc.
    Synonyms:
    cofferdam, caisson
  4. A supply or store of money, often belonging to an organization.
    • c. 1610–1620 (written), 1661 (first published), Francis Bacon, Letter of Advice to the Duke of Buckingham
      He would discharge it without any great burden to the queen's coffers.
    • Hold, there is half my coffer.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  5. A trench dug in the bottom of a dry moat, and extending across it, to enable the besieged to defend it with raking fire.

Verb

coffer (third-person singular simple present coffers, present participle coffering, simple past and past participle coffered)

  1. (transitive) To put money or valuables in a coffer.
  2. (transitive) To decorate something, especially a ceiling, with coffers.
  3. (transitive) To panel, frame, or border with a raised protective trim.
    • I must not forget these boxes, which are most ingeniously made of the pith of a palm leaf pegged together, lined inside with pandanus leaves, and outside with the same, or with plaited grass. All the joints and angles are coffered with strips of split rattan sewn neatly on.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 257

Proper noun capitalized: Coffer

Coffer (plural Coffers)

  1. A surname.

coffer meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

coffer in Hindi

strongbox
कोषागार koṣāgār

coffer in Tamil

பணப் பேழை, பெட்டகம், ஒதுக்கணி

coffer in Marathi

coffer, chest, large box
मांदूस māndūs

coffer in Urdu

خزانے کا صندوق, پٹارہ
More languagesFewer languages
coffer in Bengali
সিন্দুক, কোষাগার
coffer in Malayalam
പണപ്പെട്ടി, നിധിപേടകം, ആഭരണപ്പെട്ടി, നിധി സൂക്ഷിക്കാനുള്ള പെട്ടി
coffer in Kannada
ಹಣಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆ
coffer in Gujarati
મજૂસ majūs
coffer in Arabic
خَزْنَة حَدِيدِيَّة ḵazna ḥadīdiyya, خَزْنَة ḵazna, خزانة ḵazāna

Examples of coffer in a sentence

  • The advert was on about something or other having to do with skin care, and looking your best, and emptying your wallet into their company's coffers, and so on.
  • The committee reported having $13.6 million in its coffers last month.
  • They encouraged them to lend to developers, in many cases taking a rake-off for party coffers.

All 16 example sentences with coffer

Synonyms of coffer

Forms of coffer

Noun
pluralcoffers
alternative formcopher
alternative formcophre
Verb
third-person singular presentcoffers
present participlecoffering
past participlecoffered
pastcoffered
Proper noun
pluralCoffers

Origin of coffer

From Middle English cofre, coffre, from Old French cofre, coffre, from Latin cophinus (“basket”), from Ancient Greek κόφινος (kóphinos, “basket”). Doublet of coffin. Cognate with German Koffer (“a suitcase”).

Words formed from coffer

Phrases with coffer

Words that rhyme with coffer

Questions about coffer

What does coffer mean?
Coffer means a strong chest or box used for keeping money or valuables safe.
What is coffer in Hindi?
Coffer in Hindi is कोषागार (koṣāgār). See Coffer meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is coffer?
Coffer can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce coffer?
Coffer is pronounced /ˈkɒfə/ (UK).
What is the plural of coffer?
The plural of coffer is coffers.

Words near coffer in the dictionary

  1. Coffels
  2. Coffelt
  3. Coffelts
  4. coffen
  5. coffens
  6. coffer
  7. coffer dam
  8. coffer dams
  9. coffer illusion
  10. coffer illusions
  11. coffer-dam

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: coffer (page history and authors); Coffer (page history and authors); coffer (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); मांदूस (Marathi) (page history and authors); coffer (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); coffer (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); coffer (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); coffer (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); મજૂસ (Gujarati) (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-coffer.ogg.

Cite this entry: “coffer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/coffer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.