closet
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English closet, from Old French closet, from clos (“private space”) + -et (diminutive suffix), 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) Note: this pronuncation may be nonstandard or incorrect: noisy audio - Rhymes: -ɒzɪt
Noun
[edit]closet (plural closets)
- A small room within a house used to store clothing, food, or other household supplies.
- 1799 May 17, Jane Austen, letter:
- (obsolete) Any private space, (particularly) bowers in the open air.
- (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:
- (obsolete) A private room used by women to groom and dress themselves.
- 1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement, page 206:
- Closet for a lady to make her redy in, chamberette.
- (archaic) A private room used for prayer or other devotions.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 6:6:
- (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[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], 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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], 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:
- The late House of Commons have... seiz'd Closets and Writings without Information.
- (figuratively) A secret or hiding place, (particularly) the hiding place in English idioms such as in the closet and skeleton in the closet.
- 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.
- (obsolete) One used to store valuables.
- (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
- (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.)
- The state of having one's sexual orientation a secret.
- (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
[edit]- (place of fanciful theorization): armchair
- (furniture or shelving used for storage): See cabinet
- (room with a toilet): See Thesaurus:bathroom
Hyponyms
[edit]- (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
[edit]- bed-closet
- broom closet
- cedar closet
- chemical closet
- clerk of the closet
- Clerk of the Closet
- closet audit
- closet auger
- closet-candlestick
- closet candlestick
- closet case
- closet-chapel
- closet-chaplain
- closet-devotion
- closet-door
- closet drama
- closet-draught
- closetful
- Closetgate
- closet-help
- closet index
- closet-keeper
- closetlike
- closet-lucubration
- closet-meditation
- closet of decency
- closet of ease
- closet of the heart
- closet-philosopher
- closet-picture
- closet picture
- closet politician
- closet-politician
- closet-prayer
- closet-preparation
- closet queen
- closet-reasoner
- closet-religion
- closetry
- closet-speculation
- closet-student
- closet-study
- closet-vow
- closet-work
- closetwork
- closety
- come out of the broom closet
- come out of the closet
- cybercloset
- dry closet
- earth closet
- Fibber McGee's closet
- food closet
- glass closet
- hide in the closet
- hot closet
- in the closet
- linen closet
- monster closet
- skeleton in the closet
- spear closet
- the closet is made of glass
- water closet
- watercloset
- water-closet
- WC
Descendants
[edit]Translations
[edit]
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Adjective
[edit]closet (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Private.
- Closeted, secret (especially with reference to gay people who are in the closet).
- He's a closet case.
- 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
[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.
- 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.
- 1856–1870, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth, volume (please specify |volume=I to XII), London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:
- He had been closeted with De Quadra.
- (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, 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
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. "closet, n."
Anagrams
[edit]Old French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]closet oblique singular, m (oblique plural closez or closetz, nominative singular closez or closetz, nominative plural closet)
Portuguese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unadapted borrowing from English closet.
Pronunciation
[edit]
Noun
[edit]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[2], archived from the original on 21 November 2021:
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “closet”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024
- “closet”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024
- “closet”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2024
Romanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From English (water) closet, via French (water-)closet and semi-calque German (Wasser)Klosett.
Noun
[edit]closet n (plural closete)
Declension
[edit]singular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | ||
nominative-accusative | closet | closetul | closete | closetele | |
genitive-dative | closet | closetului | closete | closetelor | |
vocative | closetule | closetelor |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Romanian vocabulary. In: Haspelmath, M. & Tadmor, U. (eds.) World Loanword Database. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Spanish
[edit]Noun
[edit]closet m (plural closets)
- Alternative spelling of clóset
Welsh
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Noun
[edit]closet m (plural closetau)
Further reading
[edit]- 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
[edit]See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Alternative forms
[edit]- cloet (colloquial)
- cloit (literary)
Verb
[edit]closet
Mutation
[edit]- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms suffixed with -et
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)kleh₂w-
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɒzɪt
- Rhymes:English/ɒzɪt/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with rare senses
- English terms with archaic senses
- English clippings
- Scottish English
- Irish English
- American English
- Philippine English
- British English
- en:Heraldic charges
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Furniture
- en:Toilet (room)
- Old French terms suffixed with -et
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French masculine nouns
- Portuguese terms borrowed from English
- Portuguese unadapted borrowings from English
- Portuguese terms derived from English
- Portuguese 3-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- pt:Rooms
- Romanian terms derived from English
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms borrowed from German
- Romanian terms derived from German
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns
- Welsh terms with IPA pronunciation
- Welsh terms borrowed from English
- Welsh terms derived from English
- Welsh lemmas
- Welsh nouns
- Welsh countable nouns
- Welsh masculine nouns
- Welsh non-lemma forms
- Welsh verb forms
- Welsh colloquial verb forms
- cy:Rooms