bureau French · revision 16008

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1150, burel}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /by.ʁo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bureau''' ''m'' (plural bureaux)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|burel]] (about 1150), nominative ''buriaus'' (1190), plural ''bureaux''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Old French [[m|fro|burel]], a diminutive of [[bure|t=coarse woollen cloth]],^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(FEW|1, 630b) which may come from a Vulgar Latin “*būra”, beside [[la-lat|burra|t=wool, shaggy cloth]] (see [[bourre]]).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) Guiraud, followed by the Grand Robert, derives it instead from Old French “bur” “dark brown”, from [[la|burrus|t=red]], Etymonline gives both.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Etymonline) Bloch and Wartburg note that “bure” is recorded only from 1441, much later than its derivative.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[ca|burel]], [[es|buriel]] and [[it|burello]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Burel'' (about 1150) and ''buriaus'' (1190) are a coarse woollen cloth, as in the ''Roman de Renart'' and the ''Roman de la Rose''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 13th century (1316 in the Petit Robert) it was a table cover made of this cloth, and in 1495 the writing table itself, Littré explains the name by the cloth that covered the table.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873) The cloth sense was already old-fashioned in the 17th century (Boileau's ''simple bureau'').^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ In 1592 it was the room where one has one's desk, then the place where clerks work, an administrative office and its staff (''bureau de poste'', 1690), and the officers of an assembly.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(BHVF)^(Petit Robert 2007) The economist Gournay (1712–1759) coined ''bureaucratie'', whence ''bureaucrate'' (1792) and ''bureaucratique'' (1796); ''buraliste'' dates from the late 17th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Slang has ''burlin'' (1836) and ''burlingue'' (1877).^(TLFi) English ''bureau'' was borrowed in the 1690s for a writing desk, and by 1720 for an office.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1150 – ''Burel'' “coarse cloth”.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 13th century – A table cover.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1495 – A writing table.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1592 – The room with the desk.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1690 – ''Bureau de poste''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1690s – English ''bureau''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1792 – ''Bureaucrate''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1877 – Slang ''burlingue''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|desk]], writing table: ''bureau à cylindre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An [[m|en|office]], study (room): ''le bureau d'un avocat''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # An office, workplace, ''les bureaux'': the offices: ''aller au bureau''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An office, agency, department: ''bureau de poste'', ''bureau de vote'', ''bureau de tabac'', ''bureau de change''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # The executive committee, board (of an assembly, a party).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(computing)'' The desktop.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Coarse woollen cloth.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bureaucratie]]

+ * [[bureaucrate]]

+ * [[buraliste]]

+ * [[burlingue]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bourgeon]]

+ * [[bourre]]

+ * [[bure]]

+ * [[en|bureau]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}