closet English · revision 7556

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1370|origins=la claudo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈklɒzɪt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈklɑzɪt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English, [[bor|fro|closet|t=small enclosure, private room]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) a diminutive of clos, enclosure (see [[close]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Latin clausum, closed space, the neuter past participle of [[m|la|claudo|alt=claudere|t=to shut]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A small private room for study or prayer: about 1370 in the OED;^(OED 1989) about 1385, in Chaucer's ''Troilus and Criseyde'', in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Matthew 6:6 it translates Latin cubiculum, bedchamber, and Greek tamieion, inner room, and the private room for devotion is a sense of 1611 alluding to that verse.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A case or cabinet for valuables is from 1598–1601 (''china closet''),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and a small side room or cupboard for storage from 1616 (the 1610s).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Word Origins notes that the idea of privacy led to the sense of keeping something secret;^(Cresswell 2021) the adjective, private, done in seclusion, is from 1685,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and theoretical rather than practical from 1782.^(Etymonline) Secret, not public, is from 1952, first of alcoholism, but by the 1970s chiefly of homosexuality,^(Etymonline) and ''to come out of the closet'' is first recorded in 1963.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb, to shut up in a closet, is from 1595.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1370 – a private room.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1595 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1616 – a cupboard.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1685 – private (adjective).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1952 – secret.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1963 – come out of the closet.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small room or [[cupboard]] for storing clothes or household supplies.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A small private room, as for study or prayer.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[water closet]]; a toilet.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A state of [[secrecy]], especially about one's sexuality.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Private or secret: ''a closet drinker''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Based on theory rather than practice.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To shut up in a private room, as for a discussion.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[closetful]]

+ * [[closeted]]

+ * [[closet queen]]

+ * [[closet drama]]

+ * [[linen closet]]

+ * [[water closet]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[close]]

+ * [[clause]]

+ * [[enclose]]

+ * [[cloister]]

+ * [[closure]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Word Origins notes that closet is now the usual American word for a [[cupboard]] or [[wardrobe]].^(Cresswell 2021) In North Yorkshire dialect it meant a close-bed.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}