desk

Pronunciation

• IPA: /desk/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English deske, borrowed from Medieval Latin desca (“table to write on”),^[2][3][4] probably from Italian desco “table, butcher's block” or Provençal desca “basket”,^[5][6] from Latin discus (“quoit, platter, dish”), from Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos).^[2][3] It is a doublet of dais, discus, dish and disk.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A reading desk, lectern or study desk: 1363–64 in Barnhart, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In churches it was a sloping board for the service book from 1449.^[7] It was used for the office of a clerk or official from 1581,^[7] and figuratively for office or clerical work from 1797.^[2][7] A section of a large organization, such as a newspaper's news desk, is from 1927.^[7] In Scotland the desk was formerly the part of a church near the pulpit.^[8]

Timeline

• 1363–64 – a reading desk.^[3]
• 1449 – a church lectern.^[7]
• 1797 – office work.^[2][7]
• 1927 – a department of an organization.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A piece of furniture with a flat or sloping top for writing or working, often with drawers.
2. A counter where a service is given: information desk.
3. A section of an organization dealing with one subject: the news desk.
4. A lectern in a church.

Related words

• dais
• dish
• disk
• discus

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)