Dictionary

escritoire en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˌɛskɹɪˈtwɑːɹ/ (US)
• /ˌɛskɹiˈtwɑː/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From French escritoire, from escrire (“to write”) (obsolete forms of écritoire and écrire, respectively) + -oire (“a tool or object”). Doublet of scriptorium.

Meanings

1. A writing desk with a hinged door that provides the writing surface.
   • To surprise him, by finding on his table the books he liked, or the escritoire he had occasion for, gave Louisa the most delightful moments life had hitherto afforded her;... 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, pages 199–200:
   • Rosemary sat at her Public Works Department escritoire, in a sea of fed cats, and tried to write a letter to Vythilingam. 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 561:
   • Fine promenades, domed saloons, long galleries, sunny balconies, confidential passages, bridal chambers, state-rooms plenty as pigeon-holes, and out-of-the-way retreats like secret drawers in an escritoire, present like facilities for publicity or privacy. 1857 April 1, Herman Melville, chapter II, in The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade, New York, N.Y.: Dix, Edwards & Co., […], →OCLC:

Forms

Relateds

escritorial

Synonyms

secretary · secretary desk · bureau

Translations (14)

tr yazak (A writing desk with a hinged door) · is skatthol (A writing desk with a hinged door) · sv sekretär (A writing desk with a hinged door) · cs sekretář (A writing desk with a hinged door) · tr yazı masası (A writing desk with a hinged door) · tr yazıhane (A writing desk with a hinged door) · pl sekretera (A writing desk with a hinged door) · he מִכְתָּבָה (A writing desk with a hinged door) · it scrittoio (A writing desk with a hinged door) · hu szekreter (A writing desk with a hinged door) · es escritorio (A writing desk with a hinged door) · is skrifborð (A writing desk with a hinged door) · de ausklappbarer Schreibsekretär (A writing desk with a hinged door) · es escribanía (A writing desk with a hinged door)