Definitions for: Bureau


[n] furniture with drawers for keeping clothes
[n] an administrative unit of government; "the Central Intelligence Agency"; "the Census Bureau"; "Office of Management and Budget"; "Tennessee Valley Authority"



Webster (1913) Definition: Bu"reau, n.; pl. E. Bureaus, F. Bureaux. [F. bureau
a writing table, desk, office, OF., drugget, with which a
writing table was often covered, equiv. to F. bure, and fr.
OF. buire dark brown, the stuff being named from its color,
fr. L. burrus red, fr. Gr. ? flame-colored, prob. fr. ? fire.
See Fire, n., and cf. Borel, n.]
1. Originally, a desk or writing table with drawers for
papers. --Swift.

2. The place where such a bureau is used; an office where
business requiring writing is transacted.

3. Hence: A department of public business requiring a force
of clerks; the body of officials in a department who labor
under the direction of a chief.

Note: On the continent of Europe, the highest departments, in
most countries, have the name of bureaux; as, the
Bureau of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In England
and America, the term is confined to inferior and
subordinate departments; as, the ``Pension Bureau,'' a
subdepartment of the Department of the Interior. [Obs.]
In Spanish, bureo denotes a court of justice for the
trial of persons belonging to the king's household.

4. A chest of drawers for clothes, especially when made as an
ornamental piece of furniture. [U.S.]

Bureau system. See Bureaucracy.

Bureau Veritas, an institution, in the interest of maritime
underwriters, for the survey and rating of vessels all
over the world. It was founded in Belgium in 1828, removed
to Paris in 1830, and re["e]stablished in Brussels in
1870.

Synonyms: agency, authority, chest, chest of drawers, dresser, federal agency, government agency, office

See Also: administrative body, administrative unit, AEC, article of furniture, Atomic Energy Commission, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Bureau of the Census, Census Bureau, Center for Disease Control, central bank, Central Intelligence Agency, chiffonier, child welfare agency, child welfare service, CIA, commode, Comptroller of the Currency, drawer, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, executive agency, FBI, FDA, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Housing Administration, FHA, Food and Drug Administration, Foreign Service, furniture, highboy, ICC, Inland Revenue, Internal Revenue Service, Interstate Commerce Commission, IR, IRS, local authority, Manhattan Project, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Labor Relations Board, National Park Service, National Weather Service, NRC, NRLB, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Ordnance Survey, organ, OSHA, patent office, piece of furniture, redevelopment authority, regulatory agency, regulatory authority, SEC, secret service, Securities and Exchange Commission, Selective Service, Selective Service System, shelf, Social Security Administration, tallboy, UN agency, United Nations agency, weather bureau

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