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closet. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
closet, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
closet in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
closet you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English closet, from Old French closet, from clos (“private space”) + -et (“forming diminutives”), from Latin clausum. Equivalent to close + -et, but generally applied in French solely to small open-air enclosures.
Pronunciation
Noun
closet (plural closets)
- A small room within a house used to store clothing, food, or other household supplies.
- (obsolete) Any private space, (particularly) bowers in the open air.
c. 1370, Robert Cicyle, l. 57 f:
- (now rare) Any private or inner room, (particularly):
1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Haunch of Venison, a Poetical Epistle to Lord Clare, Dublin: W. Whitestone, , published 1776, →OCLC, page 9:VVhen come to the place vvhere vve all vvere to dine, / (A chair-lumber'd Cloſet, juſt tvvelve feet by nine) / My friend bid me vvelcome, but ſtruck me quite dumb / VVith tidings that Johnson and Burke coud not come: […]
- (obsolete) A private room used by women to groom and dress themselves.
1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement, page 206:
- (archaic) A private room used for prayer or other devotions.
- (figuratively, archaic) A place of (usually, fanciful) contemplation and theorizing.
1594–1597, Richard Hooker, chapter 24, in J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, , London: Will Stansby , published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):[A]broad and at home, at their Tables or in their Closets […]
- (archaic) The private residence or private council chamber of a monarch.
- (obsolete) A pew or side-chapel reserved for a monarch or other feudal lord.
- A private cabinet, (particularly):
- (obsolete) One used to store valuables.
1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , line 130:But heere's a Parchment... I found it in his Closset, 'tis his Will.
- (archaic) One used to store curiosities.
1659, Elias Ashmole, Diary, page 326:Mr. Tradescant and his wife told me they had been long considering upon whom to bestow their closet of curiosities when they died.
1681, Marquis of Halifax, Seasonable Addresses to the Houses of Parliament in Concise Succession, page 10:
- (figuratively) A secret or hiding place, (particularly) the hiding place in English idioms such as in the closet and skeleton in the closet.
1530, chapter II, in Myroure of Oure Ladye, page 233:
- The closet can be a scary place for a gay teenager.
- He's so far in the closet, he can see Narnia.
- (slang, uncommon) Clipping of closet case.
- (now chiefly Scotland, Ireland) Any small room or side room.
- (US, Philippines) One intended for storing clothes or bedclothes.
- (obsolete) Clipping of closet of ease, (later, UK) clipping of water closet: a room containing a toilet.
- (heraldry) An ordinary similar to a bar but half as broad.
- Coordinate term: barrulet
1572, J. Bossewell, Wks. Armorie, page 12:
- (Scotland, obsolete) A sewer.
- A state or condition of secrecy, privacy, or obscurity.
- The state of having one's sexual orientation a secret.
1985 August 24, Michael Bronski, “Rock Hudson: The Great Gay Hope”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 7, page 15:6 o'clock TV news specials concerning a famous Hollywood movie star who has been diagnosed with [AIDS]. It had to happen sooner or later. (In fact it probably has happened sooner, but the tenor of the times and the closets of the people were no doubt more secure.)
- (archaic) A compendium of knowledge, possibly from closet as a room?
1669, Kenelm Digby, The closet of the eminently learned Sir Kenelm Digbie Kt. opened: Whereby is discovered several ways for making of metheglin, sider, cherry-wine &c. together with excellent directions for cookery: as also for preserving, conserving, candying, &c.:
1670, Hannah Woolley, The Queen-like Closet, Or, Rich Cabinet: Stored with all manner of RARE RECEIPTS For Preserving, Candying and Cookery Very Pleasant and Beneficial to all Ingenious Persons of the FEMALE SEX.:
Synonyms
Hyponyms
- (small closet with built-in lock): locker
- (small room used for storage): walk-in closet, storage room
- (storage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, pantry, larder, cabinet
- (piece of furniture, used for storing clothes): wardrobe, armoire, press (Irish & Scots)
- (piece of furniture, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, sideboard, cabinet, press (Irish & Scots), wardrobe (UK)
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
furniture
- Arabic: خِزَانَة f (ḵizāna)
- Gulf Arabic: كبت m (kabat)
- Armenian: պահարան (hy) (paharan)
- Azerbaijani: dolab, şkaf
- Belarusian: ша́фа f (šáfa)
- Bulgarian: стенен гардероб (stenen garderob), килер m (kiler), шкаф (bg) m (škaf), гардеро́б (bg) m (garderób)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 壁櫥/壁橱 (zh) (bìchú)
- Czech: skříň (cs)
- Danish: skab (da) n
- Dutch: kast (nl) m or f
- Esperanto: ŝranko
- Faroese: skáp n
- Finnish: kaappi (fi), komero (fi)
- French: placard (fr) m
- Georgian: კარადა (ka) (ḳarada)
- German: Schrank (de) m, Wandschrank (de) m
- Greek: ντουλάπι (el) n (ntoulápi)
- Hebrew: ארון (he) (arón)
- Hindi: अलमैराह (almairāh)
- Hungarian: beépített szekrény (hu), faliszekrény (hu), gardrób (hu), gardróbszekrény (hu), járható ruhásszekrény
- Icelandic: skápur (is)
- Ingrian: škaappi
- Italian: armadio (it) m, ripostiglio (it) m
- Japanese: クローゼット (ja) (kurozetto), 押入 (ja) (oshiire), 収納庫 (shūnōko)
- Kazakh: шкаф (kk) (şkaf)
- Korean: 옷장 (ko) (otjang)
- Latin: armarium (la) n
- Persian: کمد (fa) (komod), اشکاف (fa) (eškâf)
- Polish: szafa (pl) f
- Portuguese: guarda-roupas (pt) m, armário (pt) m
- Russian: шкаф (ru) m (škaf)
- Serbo-Croatian: ormar (sh) m
- Sicilian: muarra f
- Slovak: skriňa (sk) f
- Slovene: omara (sl) f
- Spanish: ropero (es) m, armario (es) m, clóset (es) m
- Swedish: skåp (sv) n, garderob (sv) c
- Turkish: dolap (tr)
- Ukrainian: ша́фа f (šáfa)
- Walloon: calbote f, årmå (wa) m, årmwere (wa) f
- West Flemish: kasse f
- Yiddish: אַלמער m (almer), שאַנק f (shank), שאַפֿע f (shafe)
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small private chamber
- Arabic: عَرِين m (ʕarīn), حُجْرَة f (ḥujra), مِحْرَاب m (miḥrāb), قَيْطُون m (qayṭūn)
- Bulgarian: кабинет (bg) m (kabinet)
- Finnish: kamari (fi), koppi (fi)
- German: Kammer (de) f, Abstellkammer (de) f, Ankleide f, Käfter n, Kamurke f, Kabinett (de) n, Kämmerchen (de) n, Alkoven (de) m, Geheimzimmer n
- Greek: καμαράκι (el) n (kamaráki)
- Hungarian: budoár (hu), szobácska (hu), kis szoba, kamra (hu), cella (hu), fülke (hu)
- Italian: ripostiglio (it) m
- Polish: komórka (pl) f
- Russian: чула́н (ru) m (čulán), камо́рка (ru) f (kamórka)
- Scottish Gaelic: seòmar-uaigneach m
- Sicilian: ripustigghiu m
- Sorbian:
- Upper Sorbian: komorka f
- Ukrainian: комірка f (komirka)
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Adjective
closet (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Private.
- Closeted, secret (especially with reference to gay people who are in the closet).
1940, Walton Hall Smith with Ferdinand Christian Helwig, Liquor, the servant of man:I wonder if there is another in the world that could produce, among perfectly normal people, this strangest quirk in the agenda of liquordom, the closet drinker.
- Denoting anything kept a secret or private.
See also
Verb
closet (third-person singular simple present closets, present participle closeting, simple past and past participle closeted)
- (transitive) To shut away for private discussion.
- The ambassador has been closeted with the prime minister all afternoon. We're all worried what will be announced when they exit.
- (transitive) To put into a private place for a secret interview or interrogation.
1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:He was to call a new legislature, to closet its members.
- (transitive) To shut up in, or as in, a closet for concealment or confinement.
1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium, or A Review of Schools:See what contempt is fallen on human kind; […] See Bedlam's closeted and handcuff'd charge / Surpass'd in frenzy by the mad at large;
1992, Toni Morrison, Jazz, page 55:[…] she had to look twice over her shoulder when the Gay Northeasters and the City Belles strolled down Seventh Avenue, they were so handsome. But this envy-streaked pleasure Alice closeted, and never let the girl see how she admired those ready-for-bed-in-the-street clothes.
Derived terms
See also
References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. "closet, n."
Anagrams
Old French
Etymology
From clos + -et.
Noun
closet oblique singular, m (oblique plural closez or closetz, nominative singular closez or closetz, nominative plural closet)
- A small enclosed area, such as a field or a paddock.
Portuguese
A dressing room adjoining a domestic room
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English closet.
Pronunciation
Noun
closet m (plural closets)
- dressing room, walk-in closet (US), walk-in wardrobe (UK) (a small room adjoining a domestic bedroom where people may dress or undress in privacy)
2020 September 2, Luane Baptista, “Como montar um closet no apartamento: ideias e orientações”, in CRB Construtora:
Further reading
Romanian
Etymology
From English (water) closet, via French (water-)closet and semi-calque German (Wasser)Klosett.
Noun
closet n (plural closete)
- toilet, latrine, bathroom
Declension
See also
References
Spanish
Noun
closet m (plural closets)
- Alternative spelling of clóset
Welsh
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From English closet.
Alternative forms
Noun
closet m (plural closetau)
- closet
Further reading
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “closet”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Alternative forms
Verb
closet
- second-person singular conditional colloquial of cloi
Mutation