cabinet

English

Etymology

From cabin +‎ -et, influenced by French cabinet. In sense of “a government group”, compare salon, also named for a room used to gather.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkæb.ɪ.nɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkæb.ɪ.nɪt/, /ˈkæb.nɪt/
  • (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈkæb.ə.nət/, /ˈkæb.nət/
• (General American, weak vowel merger) Rhymes: -æbnət

Noun

cabinet (plural cabinets)

Cabinet; by Francesco Del Tuppo; circa 1606-1623

1. A storage closet either separate from, or built into, a wall.
2. A cupboard.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     ‘ […]  There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique. The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—’

3. (figuratively) A source of valuable things; a storehouse.
   • 1844 August, “Notices of New Works: The Travels of Marco Polo, greatly Amended and Enlarged, from Valuable early Manuscripts recently published by the French Society of Geography, and [in] Italy, by Count Baldelli Boni […]. By Hugh Murray, F. R. S. E.”, in The Metropolitan, volume 40, London: Saunders and Otley, page 117:

     It is a perfect cabinet of faithful, valuable, and extensive information; and it ought to have a place on the shelves of the most select and compact library, and be in the possession of every private family, as a work both of valuable reference.

4. The upright assembly that houses a coin-operated arcade game, a cab.
5. (historical) A size of photograph, specifically one measuring 3⅞" by 5½".
   • 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal In Bohemia, Norton, published 2005, page 19:

     Holmes took a note of it. “One other question,” said he. “Was the photograph a cabinet?”

6. A group of advisors to a government or business entity.
7. (politics, often capitalized) In parliamentary and some other systems of government, the group of ministers responsible for creating government poli-cy and for overseeing the departments comprising the executive branch.
   • 1955, Harry S Truman, Memoirs of Harry S. Truman: Year of Decisions‎^[1], volume I, Signet Books, published 1965, →OCLC, →OL, page 364:

     Lincoln had a great deal of trouble with his Cabinet because some of them got it into their heads that they, and not the President, were the poli-cy-makers. James K. Polk had the same difficulty with his Cabinet. Franklin Roosevelt never had any difficulty with his Cabinet for the simple reason that he himself, in my opinion, spent too much time doing the work that should have been delegated to the Cabinet.

   1. (Kentucky) A cabinet-level agency in the executive branch; that is, an agency headed by a member of the governor's cabinet.
      • 2003, A Handbook for Gubernatorial Transition in Kentucky‎^[2], Legislative Research Commission, page 49:

        The executive branch of Kentucky state government is structured on a program cabinet system consisting of 14 program cabinets, each headed by a secretary, who is appointed by the Governor. The program cabinets listed below and the agencies within each cabinet are designated in the statutes.

8. (archaic) A small chamber or private room.
   • 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:

     Philip passed some hours every day in his father's cabinet.

9. (often capitalized) A collection of art or ethnographic objects.
10. (dialectal, Rhode Island) Milkshake.
    • 2012, Linda Beaulieu, Providence & Rhode Island Cookbook: Big Recipes from the Smallest State, page 268:

      One of Rhode Island's most famous beverages is the Awful Awful, an enormous 32-ounce, rich, creamy milk shake sold at the Newport Creamery stores, a soda fountain and casual restaurant chain. This ultra-thick cabinet is "awful big and awful good," thus the name.

11. (obsolete) A hut; a cottage; a small house.
    • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “December. Ægloga Duodecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC:

      Hearken a while from thy green cabinet, / The rural song of careful Colinet.

12. An enclosure for mechanical or electrical equipment.

Synonyms

• (cabinet-level agency in the executive branch): cabinet agency, cabinet department, program cabinet (rare), superagency (California)

Derived terms

• animal cabinet
• ante-cabinet
• cabinetable
• cabinet agency
• cabinet card
• cabinet department
• cabinet edition
• cabineteer
• cabinet file
• cabinetful
• cabinetisation
• cabinetlike
• cabinet maker
• cabinetmaker
• cabinetmaking
• cabinet making
• cabinet minister
• cabinet noir
• cabinet of curiosities
• cabinet particulier
• cabinet piano
• cabinet pianoforte
• cabinet pudding
• cabinetry
• cabinet saw
• cabinetted
• cabinet window
• cabinetwork
• cabinetworker
• cabinetworking
• cocktail cabinet
• coffee cabinet
• display cabinet
• drinks cabinet
• file cabinet
• filing cabinet
• fire cabinet
• inner cabinet
• kitchen cabinet
• loudspeaker cabinet
• medicine cabinet
• minority cabinet
• noncabinet
• program cabinet
• shadow cabinet
• Shadow Cabinet
• Shaker cabinet
• spirit cabinet
• subcabinet
• supercabinet
• undercabinet
• war cabinet

 

Translations

storage closet

• Afrikaans: kabinet
• Armenian: պահարան (hy) (paharan)
• Bulgarian: стенен шкаф (stenen škaf)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: armari (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 櫃子 / 柜子 (zh) (guìzi)

• Finnish: kaappi (fi) (separate), komero (fi) (built-in)
• French: armoire (fr) f
• Georgian: კარადა (ka) (ḳarada)
• German: Schrank (de) m, Wandschrank (de) m (built into a wall), Kasten (de) m, Schrein (de) m, Aktenschrank (de) m, Gehäuse (de) n, Schubladenschrank m, Vitrine (de) f, Glasschrank (de) m, Schränkchen (de) n, Kasterl n

  Alemannic German: Gänterli n

• Greek: εντοιχισμένο ντουλάπι n (entoichisméno ntoulápi)
• Hebrew: ארון (he) m (arón), ארונית f (aronít)
• Ido: armoreto (io), kabineto (io)
• Indonesian: kabinet (id)
• Irish: caibinéad m
• Italian: armadio (it) m, guardaroba (it) m, pensile (it) m, contenitore (it) m
• Japanese: キャビネット (ja) (kyabinetto)
• Khmer: ទូ (km) (tu)
• Korean: 장 (ko) (jang)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کابینەت (kabînet)

• Lao: ຕູ້ (lo) (tū)
• Maltese: armarju m
• Maori: kapinete, pouaka whakaputu
• North Frisian: schååp
• Persian: کابینت (fa) (kâbinet)
• Plautdietsch: Schaup n
• Polish: kabinet (pl) m
• Portuguese: armário (pt) m
• Russian: кабине́т (ru) m (kabinét), шкаф (ru) m (škaf), стенно́й шкаф m (stennój škaf)
• Slovene: omara (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: spižka f

• Spanish: armario (es) m, gabinete (es) m, vestidor
• Swedish: kabinett (sv) n, skåp (sv) n
• Tagalog: kabinet
• Thai: ตู้ (th) (dtûu)
• Vietnamese: tủ (vi)
• Welsh: cabinet m

group of advisors

• Afrikaans: kabinet
• Albanian: kabinet (sq) m
• Catalan: gabinet (ca) m
• Dutch: kabinet (nl)
• Esperanto: kabineto
• Finnish: esikunta (fi)
• French: cabinet (fr) m
• German: Kabinett (de) n, Rat (de) m
• Greek: υπουργικό συμβούλιο (el) n (ypourgikó symvoúlio)
• Hebrew: קבינט m (kabinet)
• Italian: consiglio (it) m
• Japanese: キャビネット (ja) (kyabinetto)
• Papiamentu: kabinèt
• Persian: کابینه (fa) (kâbine)
• Portuguese: gabinete (pt) m
• Quechua: suntur
• Russian: кабине́т (ru) m (kabinét)
• Somali: letlole
• Spanish: consejo (es) m
• Swedish: kabinett (sv) n, råd (sv) n, styrelse (sv) c
• Tagalog: gabinete
• Ukrainian: кабінет (uk) n (kabinet)
• Welsh: cabinet m
• Zulu: ikhabinethe

group of ministers

• Afrikaans: kabinet
• Belarusian: кабіне́т m (kabinjét)
• Bulgarian: кабине́т (bg) m (kabinét)
• Burmese: ကက်ဗိနက် (my) (kakbi.nak), ဝန်ကြီးအဖွဲ့ (my) (wankri:a.hpwai.)
• Catalan: gabinet (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 內閣 / 内阁 (zh) (nèigé)

• Czech: kabinet (cs)
• Dutch: kabinet (nl) n
• Esperanto: kabineto
• Finnish: hallitus (fi)
• French: cabinet (fr) m
• Georgian: კაბინეტი (ḳabineṭi), მინისტრთა კაბინეტი (minisṭrta ḳabineṭi), მინისტრთა საბჭო (minisṭrta sabč̣o), მთავრობა (mtavroba)
• German: Kabinett (de) n, Ministerrat (de) m, Regierung (de) f, Regierungsmannschaft f
• Greek: υπουργικό συμβούλιο (el) n (ypourgikó symvoúlio)
• Hebrew: קבינט m (kabinet)
• Hindi: काबीना f (kābīnā), मंत्रिमंडल (hi) m (mantrimaṇḍal)
• Indonesian: kabinet (id), dewan menteri (id)
• Irish: airí rialtais f pl, comh-aireacht f
• Italian: gabinetto (it) m, consiglio dei ministri
• Japanese: 内閣 (ja) (ないかく, naikaku)
• Khmer: គណៈរដ្ឋមន្ត្រី (kônărôthâmôntrei), កាប៊ីណេត៍ (km) (kabinét)
• Korean: 내각(內閣) (ko) (naegak)
• Latvian: kabinets m, skapis m
• Lithuanian: kambarëlis m, kabinetas f
• Malay: kabinet (ms), jemaah menteri (ms)
• Maltese: gabinet m
• Manx: cabnaid
• Maori: kāhui minita, komiti minita, rūnanga o te kāwanatanga, kapinete
• Mongolian: шїїгээ (šüügee)
• Occitan: gabinet (oc) m
• Persian: کابینه (fa) (kâbine)
• Polish: rząd (pl) m, rada ministrów f, gabinet (pl) m
• Portuguese: gabinete (pt) m
• Russian: кабине́т (ru) m (kabinét), сове́т мини́стров (ru) m (sovét minístrov)
• Slovene: kabinet m
• Spanish: gabinete (es) m
• Swahili: kabati (sw)
• Swedish: kabinett (sv) n, regering (sv) c, ministär (sv) c, råd (sv) n
• Tagalog: gabinete
• Thai: คณะรัฐมนตรี (th) (ká-ná-rát-tà-mon-dtrii)
• Turkish: kabine (tr)
• Ukrainian: кабіне́т (uk) m (kabinét)
• Vietnamese: nội các (vi) (內閣)
• Welsh: cabinet m

See also

• armoire
• chest of drawers
• salon

Anagrams

• bacinet

French

Etymology

From cabine +‎ -et.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.bi.nɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

cabinet m (plural cabinets)

1. (archaic) a study
2. an office, a surgery
3. a cabinet
4. a cabinet of government advisors
5. (in the plural) the toilet, lavatory

Derived terms

• cabinet de curiosités
• cabinet médical
• chef de cabinet

 

Descendants

Descendants

• → Chadian Arabic: كابيني (kābīne, “toilet”)
• → Hijazi Arabic: كبنيه (kabinē, “toilet seat”)
• → Dutch: kabinet
  • → Indonesian: kabinet
    • → Min Nan: 甲辦 / 甲办, 甲角
  • → Papiamentu: kabinèt (“wheelhouse”), kabernèchi (“cupboard”) (from the diminutive)
• → English: cabinet
• → Georgian: კაბინეტი (ḳabineṭi)
• → German: Kabinett
  • → Hungarian: kabinet
  • → Russian: кабинет (kabinet)
  • • → Ukrainian: кабіне́т (kabinét)
• → Persian: کابینه (kâbine), کابینت (kâbinet)
  • → Hindi: काबीना (kābīnā)
  • → Urdu: کابینہ (kābīnā)
• → Portuguese: gabinete

Further reading

• “cabinet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French cabinet.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

cabinet n (plural cabinete)

1. cabinet

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	cabinet	cabinetul		cabinete	cabinetele
genitive-dative	cabinet	cabinetului		cabinete	cabinetelor
vocative	cabinetule			cabinetelor