coffer
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old French cofre, coffre, from Latin cophinus (“basket”), from Ancient Greek κόφινος (kophinos, “basket”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
coffer (plural coffers)
- A strongbox: a strong chest or box used for keeping money or valuables safe.
- (architecture) An ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome; a caisson.
- A cofferdam.
- A supply or store of money, often belonging to an organization.
- Francis Bacon
- He would discharge it without any burden to the queen's coffers.
- Shakespeare
- Hold, here is half my coffer.
- Francis Bacon
- A trench dug in the bottom of a dry moat, and extending across it, to enable the besieged to defend it with raking fire.
Translations [edit]
strongbox
architecture: ornamental sunken panel
cofferdam — see cofferdam
Verb [edit]
coffer (third-person singular simple present coffers, present participle coffering, simple past and past participle coffered)
- (transitive) To put money or valuables in a coffer
- (transitive) To decorate something, especially a ceiling, with coffers.
External links [edit]
- coffer in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- coffer in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- coffer at OneLook Dictionary Search
