1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  2.  The  place  where  such  a  bureau  is  used  an  office  where 
  business  requiring  writing  is  transacted. 
 
  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. 
 
  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. 
 
  4.  A  chest  of  drawers  for  clothes,  especially  when  made  as  an 
  ornamental  piece  of  furniture.  [U.S.] 
 
  {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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