From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Bureau \Bu"reau\, n.; pl. E. {Bureaus}, F. {Bureaux}. [F. bureau
a writing table, desk, office, OF., drugget, with which a
writing table was often covered, equiv. to F. bure, and fr.
OF. buire dark brown, the stuff being named from its color,
fr. L. burrus red, fr. Gr. ? flame-colored, prob. fr. ? fire.
See {Fire}, n., and cf. {Borel}, n.]
1. Originally, a desk or writing table with drawers for
papers. --Swift.
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2. The place where such a bureau is used; an office where
business requiring writing is transacted.
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3. Hence: A department of public business requiring a force
of clerks; the body of officials in a department who labor
under the direction of a chief.
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Note: On the continent of Europe, the highest departments, in
most countries, have the name of bureaux; as, the
Bureau of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In England
and America, the term is confined to inferior and
subordinate departments; as, the "Pension Bureau," a
subdepartment of the Department of the Interior. [Obs.]
In Spanish, bureo denotes a court of justice for the
trial of persons belonging to the king's household.
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4. A chest of drawers for clothes, especially when made as an
ornamental piece of furniture. [U.S.]
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{Bureau system}. See {Bureaucracy}.
{Bureau Veritas}, an institution, in the interest of maritime
underwriters, for the survey and rating of vessels all
over the world. It was founded in Belgium in 1828, removed
to Paris in 1830, and re["e]stablished in Brussels in
1870.
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