# bureau

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbjʊ.ɹəʊ/ · frequency rank #3,546

## Definitions
1. An administrative unit of government; office.
2. An organization or office for collecting or providing information or news.
3. An office (room where clerical or professional duties are performed).
4. 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.
5. A chest of drawers for clothes.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **Burma** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bureau-vs-burma)
- **bursa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bureau-vs-bursa)
- **burka** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bureau-vs-burka)
- **burqa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bureau-vs-burqa)
- **burial** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bureau-vs-burial)
- **burlap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bureau-vs-burlap)
- **beau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beau-vs-bureau)
- **Brea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brea-vs-bureau)
- **break** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/break-vs-bureau)
- **bread** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-bureau)
- **bream** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bream-vs-bureau)
- **boreal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boreal-vs-bureau)

## Common misspellings (7)
`bbureau`, `brueau`, `buerau`, `buraeu`, `bureua`, `burreau`, `ubreau`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bureau