different between strongbox vs coffer

English

Etymology

strong +? box

Noun

strongbox (plural strongboxes)

1. A sturdy box with a lock for storing valuables.

Synonyms

• (sturdy box with a lock): safe, safebox

Translations

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