boardroom

Etymology

It is formed from English board + room,^[2][3][4] with board in the sense of a table at which a council sits.^[3] That sense of board, which had earlier come to mean a table, is recorded from the 1570s, and it passed to the council itself, the people who manage a public or private concern, in the 1610s.^[3] The phrase board of directors is recorded from 1712.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A room in which the board of a company or other organization meets: 1716, in a letter by R. Williamson to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.^[2] Etymonline dates the word, also written board-room, to 1731,^[3] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1732.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first meaning, the room where a board of directors or governors meets.^[2][5] The OED also records it for the members of such a board,^[2] and Collins notes its use as a modifier, of the top management of a company.^[6] In the United States a boardroom was also a room in a broker's office or a stock exchange with a board on which transactions or prices were listed;^[5] Dictionary.com dates its American use to the early 1880s.^[4]

Timeline

• 1716 – a room in which the board of a company or organization meets.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to 1731 and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1732.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A room where the board of directors of a company or the governing board of an organization meets, usually with a large conference table: The trustees gathered in the boardroom every Tuesday.^[6][5][2]
2. The members of such a board, or the top management of a company, especially as a modifier: a boardroom row.^[2][6]
3. A room in a broker's office or a stock exchange with a board on which transactions or prices are posted.^[5]

Related words

• board
• room
• board of directors

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins