desk

Meanings

Noun

• A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath.
• A reading table or lectern to support the book from which the liturgical service is read, differing from the pulpit from which the sermon is preached; also (especially in the United States), a pulpit. Hence, used symbolically for the clerical profession.
• A department tasked with a particular topic or focus in certain types of businesses, such as newspapers and financial trading firms.

Verb

• To shut up, as in a desk; to treasure.
• To equip with a desk or desks.

Related

Broader meaning words

• furniture

Origin

• From Middle English deske, desque, from Medieval Latin desca, modified from Old Italian desco, from Latin discus. dais, disc, discus, dish, disk, and diskos.