bureau system

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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