English

Noun

closet ‎(plural closets)

1. (obsolete) Any private area, particularly bowers in the open air.
   • c. 1370, Robert Cicyle, l. 57 f.:

     A slepe hym toke
     In hys closet.

2. (now rare) Any private or inner room, particularly:
   • Goldsmith

     a chair-lumbered closet, just twelve feet by nine

   1. (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.

   2. (archaic) A private room used for prayer or other devotions.
      • Bible (KJV), Matthew, 6:6:

        When thou prayest, enter into thy closet.

   3. (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...

   4. (archaic) The private residence or private council chamber of a monarch.
3. (obsolete) A pew or side-chapel reserved for a monarch or other feudal lord.
   • c. 1390, Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, §I, 934 ff.:

     Chaplayneȝ to þe chapeles chosen þe gate...
     Þe lorde loutes þerto, & þe lady als,
     In-to a comly closet coyntly ho entreȝ.

   • 1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement, p. 206:

     Closet, chapelle.

4. A private cabinet, particularly:
   1. (obsolete) One used to store valuables.
      • 1599, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar, Act III, Scene ii, l. 130:

        But heere's a Parchment... I found it in his Closset, 'tis his Will.

   2. (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.

   3. (now chiefly US) One used to store food or other household supplies: a cupboard.
      • 1799 May 17, Jane Austen, letter:

        A Closet full of shelves... it... should therefore be called a Cupboard rather than a Closet.

   4. (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:

        Went the sonne of god oute of the pryuy closet of the maydens wombe.

      The closet can be a scary place for a gay teenager.

5. (now chiefly Scotland, Ireland) Any small room or side-room, particularly:
   1. (US) One intended for storing clothes or bedclothes.
   2. (obsolete) Short for closet of ease or later (Britain) water closet: a room containing a toilet.
6. (heraldry) An ordinary similar to a bar but half as broad.
   • 1572, J. Bossewell, Wks. Armorie, p. 12:

     A Closset is the halfe of the Barre, and tenne of them maie be borne in one fielde.

7. (Scotland, obsolete) A sewer.

Synonyms

• (place of fanciful theorization): armchair
• (furniture or shelving used for storage): See cabinet
• (room with a toilet): See Wikisaurus:bathroom

Hyponyms

• (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

Translations

Adjective

closet ‎(not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Private.
2. Secret, particularly with reference to secret homosexuals in the closet.

   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

• out

Verb

closet ‎(third-person singular simple present closets, present participle closeting, simple past and past participle closeted)

1. (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.

2. (transitive) To put into a private place for a secret interview or interrogation.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Bancroft

     He was to call a new legislature, to closet its members.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Froude

     He had been closeted with De Quadra.

3. (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, 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.

Derived terms

• closeted
• closet oneself

See also

• come out

Anagrams

• colets, telcos

References

1. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary. "closet, n."

Old French

Etymology

clos +‎ -et.

Noun

closet m ‎(oblique plural closez or closetz, nominative singular closez or closetz, nominative plural closet)

1. small enclosed area, such as a field or a paddock

Romanian

Etymology

From English (water) closet.

Noun

closet n ‎(plural closete)

1. toilet, latrine, bathroom

See also

• baie
• toaletă

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈklɔsɛt/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈkloːsɛt/

Etymology 1

Borrowing from English closet

Alternative forms

• closed

Noun

closet m (plural closetau)

1. closet

Etymology 2

Inflected form of cloi.

Alternative forms

• cloet (colloquial)
• cloit (literary)

Verb

closet

1. (colloquial) second-person singular conditional of cloi

Mutation

References

• “closet” in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru.