coffer
coffer Lexical Profile
coffer Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The financial reserves, funds, or treasury of a government, institution, or organization (usually used in the plural).
"A surge in tourism helped replenish the city's depleted coffers."
A strongbox or small chest used for holding money and other valuables.
"The merchant locked the gold coins inside a heavy iron-bound coffer."
A recessed, decorative panel in a ceiling, vault, or soffit.
"The dome of the Pantheon in Rome is famous for its grid of sunken architectural coffers."
A watertight enclosure pumped dry to permit construction or repair work below the waterline, or a chamber in a canal lock.
"Engineers constructed a massive timber coffer around the bridge pier site."
• verb
To adorn or construct a ceiling, vault, or soffit with recessed ornamental panels.
"The Renaissance architect chose to coffer the grand hall's ceiling with gilded oak panels."
To enclose, store, or lock away in a chest or strongbox.
"The nobles sought to coffer their silver before the economic crisis worsened."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'coffer' (a chest for valuables or financial reserves) with 'cougher' (a person who coughs) or 'coffin' (a burial box). In contemporary usage, the noun appears most frequently in the plural ('coffers') to refer to an organization's treasury or funds.
• Rhymes for coffer
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English cofre, borrowed from Old French cofre ('chest'), from Latin cophinus ('basket'), which derives from Ancient Greek kophinos ('basket'). It is a doublet of 'coffin', which originally shared the meaning of a basket or chest before narrowing to a burial box.