different between coffer vs bahut

English

Alternative forms

• copher (obsolete)
• cophre (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English cofre, coffre, from Old French cofre, coffre, from Latin cophinus (“basket”), from Ancient Greek ??????? (kóphinos, “basket”). Doublet of coffin.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?f?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?k?f?/
• (US, cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /?k?f?/
• Homophones: cougher
• Rhymes: -?f?(?)

Noun

coffer (plural coffers)

1. A strong chest or box used for keeping money or valuables safe.

   Synonym: strongbox

2. (architecture) An ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome.

   Synonym: caisson

   • 1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, p.135:

     Prolapsed and waterstained ceiling, the sagging coffers.

3. A cofferdam.
4. A supply or store of money, often belonging to an organization.
   • c.1610-1620 (written), 1661 (first published), Francis Bacon, Letter of Advice to the Duke of Buckingham

     He would discharge it without any great burden to the queen's coffers.
5. A trench dug in the bottom of a dry moat, and extending across it, to enable the besieged to defend it with raking fire.

Derived terms

• coffered ceiling

Translations

Verb

coffer (third-person singular simple present coffers, present participle coffering, simple past and past participle coffered)

1. (transitive) To put money or valuables in a coffer
2. (transitive) To decorate something, especially a ceiling, with coffers.

Further reading

• coffer on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• coffer in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• coffer in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• coffer at OneLook Dictionary Search

Middle English

Noun

coffer

1. Alternative form of cofre

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French bahut, of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??h?t/, /b??hu?t/

Noun

bahut (plural bahuts)

1. (obsolete) A portable coffer or chest with a rounded lid covered in leather, garnished with nails, once used for the transport of clothes or other personal luggage. It was the original portmanteau.
2. (obsolete, architecture) A dwarf-wall of plain masonry, carrying the roof of a cathedral or church and masked or hidden behind the balustrade.

Usage notes

Towards the end of the 17th century, the name fell into disuse and was replaced by coffer, which probably accounts for its misuse by the French romantic writers of the early 19th century. They applied it to almost any antique sideboard, cupboard or wardrobe, and its use became hopelessly confused.

References

• Bahut in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• thaub

French

Etymology

From Old French bahur. Further origin unknown, most hypotheses being weak in one respect or another (cf. Further reading below). Bratchet suggests Middle High German behut (“hutch for provisions”) or Frankish *bagh?di, *bagh?di (“sideboard”), from Proto-Germanic *bagg- (possibly related to Old Norse baggi, Proto-Germanic *pakkô) + *h?diz (“hide, protection”).

Compare Italian baule, Ladino baul, Portuguese baú.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.y/

Noun

bahut m (plural bahuts)

1. chest; sideboard
2. (school slang) school
3. (colloquial) lorry, truck; (taxi) cab

Further reading

• “bahut” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

References