bureau [L17th] The French word bureau originally meant ‘*baize’, a material that was used for covering writing desks, and probably comes from a form of buire ‘dark brown’. In the early 18th century bureau entered English both as a writing desk and as an office, a place where writing desks are found. In North America the piece of furniture called a bureau is a chest of drawers rather than a desk. The word is common there in the official titles of some government offices, for example the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI.