Meanings
plural secretaires
- A kind of writing desk (a secretary).
1 more example
The table was covered with a confusion of papers, books, pamphlets, all heaped upon one another pell-mell; and an open secretaire against the wall, was chokeful of the same litter; manuscripts, books in yellow-paper covers, books in smart bindings, books in shabby bindings, stuffed in anyhow, one on the top of the other, sideways, longways, endways; a row of pigeon-holes gorged with papers in the background.
[1884], [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “‘The Breaker has come up before Them’”, in Ishmael: […], volume I, London: John and Robert Maxwell, […], →OCLC, page 289
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchsecrétaire
- Englishsecretaire
From French secrétaire.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Spanish secreter
- secreterTranslations
Cite this entry
secretaire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretaire
“secretaire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretaire. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “secretaire,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretaire.
Source: secretaire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.