closet
See also: clóset
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English closet, from Old French closet, from clos (“private area”) + -et (“forming diminutives”), from Latin clausum. Equivalent to close + -et, but generally applied in French solely to small open-air enclosures.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈklɒzɪt/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈklɑzɪt/
-
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɒzɪt
Noun[edit]
closet (plural closets)
- (obsolete) Any private area, particularly bowers in the open air.
- (now rare) Any private or inner room, particularly:
- Goldsmith
- a chair-lumbered closet, just twelve feet by nine
- (obsolete) A private room used by women to groom and dress themselves.
- 1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement, p. 206:
- Closet for a lady to make her redy in, chamberette.
- 1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement, p. 206:
- (archaic) A private room used for prayer or other devotions.
- (figuratively, archaic) A place of (usually fanciful) contemplation and theorizing.
- a. 1600, Robert Hooker, Of Lawes Eccl. and Politie, Ch. vii, § 24:
- ...abroad and at home, at their Tables or in their Closets...
- a. 1600, Robert Hooker, Of Lawes Eccl. and Politie, Ch. vii, § 24:
- (archaic) The private residence or private council chamber of a monarch.
- Goldsmith
- (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, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar, Act III, Scene ii, l. 130:
- (archaic) One used to store curiosities.
- 1659, Elias Ashmole, Diary, p. 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, p. 10:
- The late House of Commons have... seiz'd Closets and Writings without Information.
- 1659, Elias Ashmole, Diary, p. 326:
- (now chiefly US) One used to store food or other household supplies: a cupboard.
- 1799 May 17, Jane Austen, letter:
- (figuratively) A secret or hiding place, particularly the hiding place in English idioms such as in the closet and skeleton in the closet.
- 1530, Myroure of Oure Ladye, Ch. ii, p. 233:
- The closet can be a scary place for a gay teenager.
- (obsolete) One used to store valuables.
- (now chiefly Scotland, Ireland) Any small room or side-room, particularly:
- (US) One intended for storing clothes or bedclothes.
- (obsolete) Clipping of closet of ease or later (Britain) water closet: a room containing a toilet.
- (heraldry) An ordinary similar to a bar but half as broad.
- (Scotland, obsolete) A sewer.
Synonyms[edit]
- (place of fanciful theorization): armchair
- (furniture or shelving used for storage): See cabinet
- (room with a toilet): See Thesaurus:bathroom
Hyponyms[edit]
- (A small closet with built-in lock): locker
- (A small room used for storage): walk-in closet, storage room
- (A storage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, pantry, larder, cabinet
- (A piece of furniture, used for storing clothes): wardrobe, armoire, press (Irish & Scots)
- (A piece of furniture, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, sideboard, cabinet, press (Irish & Scots), wardrobe (UK)
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
- bed-closet
- chemical closet
- Clerk of the Closet, clerk of the closet
- closet candlestick, closet-candlestick
- closet case
- closet-chapel
- closet-chaplain
- closet-devotion
- closet-door
- closet-draught
- closet of ease
- closet of the heart
- closet-help
- closet-keeper
- closet-lucubration
- closet-meditation
- closet-philosopher
- closet picture, closet-picture
- closet politician, closet-politician
- closet-prayer
- closet-preparation
- closet-reasoner
- closet-religion
- closet-speculation
- closet-student
- closet-study
- closet-vow
- closetwork, closet-work
- come out of the closet
- earth closet
- glass closet
- in the closet
- skeleton in the closet
- water closet, water-closet, WC
Translations[edit]
furniture
|
|
small private chamber
toilet — see toilet
Adjective[edit]
closet (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Private.
- Secret, especially with reference to gay people who are in the closet; closeted.
- He's a closet case.
-
1940, Walton Hall Smith, 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.
See also[edit]
Verb[edit]
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.
- (transitive) To shut up in, or as in, a closet for concealment or confinement.
- 1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium, or A Review of Schools, [1]
- 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, p. 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.
- 1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium, or A Review of Schools, [1]
Derived terms[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. "closet, n."
Anagrams[edit]
Old French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
closet m (oblique plural closez or closetz, nominative singular closez or closetz, nominative plural closet)
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From English (water) closet.
Noun[edit]
closet n (plural closete)
See also[edit]
Spanish[edit]
Noun[edit]
closet m (plural closets)
- closet (the state of being secretly gay)
Welsh[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Noun[edit]
closet m (plural closetau)
Etymology 2[edit]
Inflected form of cloi.
Alternative forms[edit]
Verb[edit]
closet
Mutation[edit]
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
closet | gloset | nghloset | chloset |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
References[edit]
- “closet”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, 2014
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English words suffixed with -et
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with rare senses
- English terms with archaic senses
- American English
- Scottish English
- Irish English
- English clippings
- British English
- en:Heraldry
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Furniture
- en:WC
- Old French words suffixed with -et
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French masculine nouns
- Romanian terms derived from English
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Welsh terms with IPA pronunciation
- Welsh terms borrowed from English
- Welsh terms derived from English
- Welsh lemmas
- Welsh nouns
- Welsh non-lemma forms
- Welsh verb forms
- Welsh colloquialisms
- cy:Rooms