Part 872

Bu"reau (&?;), n.; pl. E. Bureaus (&?;), F. Bureaux (&?;). [F. bureau a writing table, desk, office, OF., drugget, with which a writing table was often covered, equiv. to F. bure, and fr. OF. buire dark brown, the stuff being named from its color, fr. L. burrus red, fr. Gr. &?; flame-colored, prob. fr. &?; fire. See Fire, n., and cf. Borel, n.] 1. Originally, a desk or writing table with drawers for papers. Swift.

2. The place where such a bureau is used; an office where business requiring writing is transacted.

3. Hence: A department of public business requiring a force of clerks; the body of officials in a department who labor under the direction of a chief.

On the continent of Europe, the highest departments, in most countries, have the name of bureaux; as, the Bureau of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In England and America, the term is confined to inferior and subordinate departments; as, the "Pension Bureau," a subdepartment of the Department of the Interior. [Obs.] In Spanish, bureo denotes a court of justice for the trial of persons belonging to the king's household.

4. A chest of drawers for clothes, especially when made as an ornamental piece of furniture. [U.S.]

Bureau system. See Bureaucracy. -- Bureau Veritas, an institution, in the interest of maritime underwriters, for the survey and rating of vessels all over the world. It was founded in Belgium in 1828, removed to Paris in 1830, and reëstablished in Brussels in 1870.

Bu*reau"cra*cy (&?;), n. [Bureau + Gr. &?; to be strong, to govern, &?; strength: cf. F. bureaucratie.] 1. A system of carrying on the business of government by means of departments or bureaus, each under the control of a chief, in contradiction to a system in which the officers of government have an associated authority and responsibility; also, government conducted on this system.

2. Government officials, collectively.

Bu*reau"crat (&?;), n. An official of a bureau; esp. an official confirmed in a narrow and arbitrary routine. C. Kingsley.

{ Bu`reau*crat"ic (&?;), Bu`reau*crat"ic*al (&?;), } a. [Cf. F. bureaucratique.] Of, relating to, or resembling, a bureaucracy.

Bu*reau"cra*tist (&?;), n. An advocate for , or supporter of, bureaucracy.

Bur"el (&?;), n. & a. Same as Borrel.

||Bu*rette" (&?;), n. [F., can, cruet, dim. of buire flagon.] (Chem.) An apparatus for delivering measured quantities of liquid or for measuring the quantity of liquid or gas received or discharged. It consists essentially of a graduated glass tube, usually furnished with a small aperture and stopcock.

Bur" fish` (&?;). (Zoöl.) A spinose, plectognath fish of the Allantic coast of the United States (esp. Chilo mycterus geometricus) having the power of distending its body with water or air, so as to resemble a chestnut bur; -- called also ball fish, balloon fish, and swellfish.

Burg (&?;), n. [AS. burh, burg, cf. LL. burgus. See 1st Borough.] 1. A fortified town. [Obs.]

2. A borough. [Eng.] See 1st Borough.

Burg"age (&?;), n. [From Burg: cf. F. bourgage, LL. burgagium.] (Eng. Law) A tenure by which houses or lands are held of the king or other lord of a borough or city; at a certain yearly rent, or by services relating to trade or handicraft. Burrill.

Bur"gall (&?;), n. (Zoöl.) A small marine fish; -- also called cunner.

Bur"ga*mot (&?;), n. See Bergamot.

Bur"ga*net (&?;), n. See Burgonet.

Bur"gee (&?;), n. 1. A kind of small coat.

2. (Naut.) A swallow-tailed flag; a distinguishing pennant, used by cutters, yachts, and merchant vessels.

Bur*geois" (bûr*jois"), n. (Print.) See 1st Bourgeois.

||Bur*geois" (br*zhwä"), n. A burgess; a citizen. See 2d Bourgeois. [R.] Addison.

Bur"geon (&?;), v. i. To bud. See Bourgeon.

Bur"gess (&?;), n. [OE. burgeis, OF. burgeis, fr. burcfortified town, town, F. bourg village, fr. LL. burgus fort, city; from the German; cf. MHG. burc, G. burg. See 1st Borough, and cf. 2d Bourgeois.] 1. An inhabitant of a borough or walled town, or one who possesses a tenement therein; a citizen or freeman of a borough. Blackstone.

"A burgess of a borough corresponds with a citizen of a city." Burrill.

2. One who represents a borough in Parliament.