# closet
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English closet, from Old French closet, from clos (“private space”) +‎ -et (diminutive suffix), from Latin clausum. Equivalent to close +‎ -et, but generally applied in French solely to small open-air enclosures.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈklɒzɪt/
* (US) IPA: /ˈklɑzɪt/
* Audio (US):(file) Note: this pronuncation may be nonstandard or incorrect: noisy audio
* Rhymes: -ɒzɪt

### Noun

closet (plural closets)
* A small room within a house used to store clothing, food, or other household supplies.
** 1799 May 17, Jane Austen, letter:
    A Closet full of shelves... it... should therefore be called a Cupboard rather than a Closet.
* (obsolete) Any private space, (particularly) bowers in the open air.
** c. 1370, Robert Cicyle, l. 57 f:A slepe hym toke / In hys closet.
* (now rare) Any private or inner room, (particularly):
** 1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Haunch of Venison, a Poetical Epistle to Lord Clare, Dublin: […] W. Whitestone, […], published 1776, →OCLC, page 9:VVhen come to the place vvhere vve all vvere to dine, / (A chair-lumber'd Cloſet, juſt tvvelve feet by nine) / My friend bid me vvelcome, but ſtruck me quite dumb / VVith tidings that Johnson and Burke coud not come: […]
** (obsolete) A private room used by women to groom and dress themselves.
*** 1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement, page 206:Closet for a lady to make her redy in, chamberette.
** (archaic) A private room used for prayer or other devotions.
*** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 6:6:When thou prayest, enter into thy closet.
** (figuratively, archaic) A place of (usually, fanciful) contemplation and theorizing.
*** 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, chapter 24, in J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):[A]broad and at home, at their Tables or in their Closets […]
** (archaic) The private residence or private council chamber of a monarch.
* (obsolete) A pew or side-chapel reserved for a monarch or other feudal lord.
** c. 1390, Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, §I, 934 ff.:
    Chaplayneȝ to þe chapeles chosen þe gate... / Þe lorde loutes þerto, & þe lady als, / In-to a comly closet coyntly ho entreȝ.
** 1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement, page 206:Closet, chapelle.
* A private cabinet, (particularly):
** (obsolete) One used to store valuables.
*** 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], line 130:But heere's a Parchment... I found it in his Closset, 'tis his Will.
** (archaic) One used to store curiosities.
*** 1659, Elias Ashmole, Diary, page 326:Mr. Tradescant and his wife told me they had been long considering upon whom to bestow their closet of curiosities when they died.
*** 1681, Marquis of Halifax, Seasonable Addresses to the Houses of Parliament in Concise Succession, page 10:The late House of Commons have... seiz'd Closets and Writings without Information.
** (figuratively) A secret or hiding place, (particularly) the hiding place in English idioms such as in the closet and skeleton in the closet.
*** 1530, chapter II, in Myroure of Oure Ladye, page 233:Went the sonne of god oute of the pryuy closet of the maydens wombe.
    The closet can be a scary place for a gay teenager.
    He's so far in the closet, he can see Narnia.
** (slang, uncommon) Clipping of closet case.
* (now chiefly Scotland, Ireland) Any small room or side room.
** (US, Philippines) One intended for storing clothes or bedclothes.
** (obsolete) Clipping of closet of ease, (later, UK) clipping of water closet: a room containing a toilet.
* (heraldry) An ordinary similar to a bar but half as broad.
    Coordinate term: barrulet
** 1572, J. Bossewell, Wks. Armorie, page 12:A Closset is the halfe of the Barre, and tenne of them maie be borne in one fielde.
* (Scotland, obsolete) A sewer.
* A state or condition of secrecy, privacy, or obscurity.
** The state of having one's sexual orientation a secret.
*** 1985 August 24, Michael Bronski, “Rock Hudson: The Great Gay Hope”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 7, page 15:6 o'clock TV news specials concerning a famous Hollywood movie star who has been diagnosed with [AIDS]. It had to happen sooner or later. (In fact it probably has happened sooner, but the tenor of the times and the closets of the people were no doubt more secure.)
* (archaic) A compendium of knowledge, possibly from closet as a room?
** 1669, Kenelm Digby, The closet of the eminently learned Sir Kenelm Digbie Kt. opened: Whereby is discovered several ways for making of metheglin, sider, cherry-wine &c. together with excellent directions for cookery: as also for preserving, conserving, candying, &c.:
** 1670, Hannah Woolley, The Queen-like Closet, Or, Rich Cabinet: Stored with all manner of RARE RECEIPTS For Preserving, Candying and Cookery Very Pleasant and Beneficial to all Ingenious Persons of the FEMALE SEX.:

#### Synonyms

* (place of fanciful theorization): armchair
* (furniture or shelving used for storage): See cabinet
* (room with a toilet): See Thesaurus:bathroom

#### Hyponyms

* (small closet with built-in lock): locker
* (small room used for storage): walk-in closet, storage room
* (storage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, pantry, larder, cabinet
* (piece of furniture, used for storing clothes): wardrobe, armoire, press (Irish & Scots)
* (piece of furniture, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, sideboard, cabinet, press (Irish & Scots), wardrobe (UK)

#### Derived terms

* bed-closet
* broom closet
* cedar closet
* chemical closet
* clerk of the closet
* Clerk of the Closet
* closet audit
* closet auger
* closet-candlestick
* closet candlestick
* closet case
* closet-chapel
* closet-chaplain
* closet-devotion
* closet-door
* closet drama
* closet-draught
* closetful
* Closetgate
* closet-help
* closet index
* closet-keeper
* closetlike
* closet-lucubration
* closet-meditation
* closet of decency
* closet of ease
* closet of the heart
* closet-philosopher
* closet-picture
* closet picture
* closet politician
* closet-politician
* closet-prayer
* closet-preparation
* closet queen
* closet-reasoner
* closet-religion
* closetry
* closet-speculation
* closet-student
* closet-study
* closet-vow
* closet-work
* closetwork
* closety
* come out of the broom closet
* come out of the closet
* cybercloset
* dry closet
* earth closet
* Fibber McGee's closet
* food closet
* glass closet
* hide in the closet
* hot closet
* in the closet
* linen closet
* monster closet
* powder closet
* skeleton in the closet
* spear closet
* the closet is made of glass
* water closet
* watercloset
* water-closet
* WC

#### Descendants

* → Czech: klozet
* → Polish: klozet
* → Spanish: clóset
* → Welsh: closet

#### Translations
### Adjective

closet (not comparable)
* (obsolete) Private.
* Closeted, secret (especially with reference to gay people who are in the closet).
    He's a closet case.
** 1940, Walton Hall Smith with Ferdinand Christian Helwig, Liquor, the servant of man:I wonder if there is another in the world that could produce, among perfectly normal people, this strangest quirk in the agenda of liquordom, the closet drinker.
* Denoting anything kept a secret or private.

#### See also

* out

### Verb

closet (third-person singular simple present closets, present participle closeting, simple past and past participle closeted)
* (transitive) To shut away for private discussion.
    The ambassador has been closeted with the prime minister all afternoon. We're all worried what will be announced when they exit.
* (transitive) To put into a private place for a secret interview or interrogation.
** 1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:He was to call a new legislature, to closet its members.
** 1856–1870, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth, volume (please specify |volume=I to XII), London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:He had been closeted with De Quadra.
* (transitive) To shut up in, or as in, a closet for concealment or confinement.
** 1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium, or A Review of Schools‎:See what contempt is fallen on human kind; […] See Bedlam's closeted and handcuff'd charge / Surpass'd in frenzy by the mad at large;
** 1992, Toni Morrison, Jazz, page 55:[…] she had to look twice over her shoulder when the Gay Northeasters and the City Belles strolled down Seventh Avenue, they were so handsome. But this envy-streaked pleasure Alice closeted, and never let the girl see how she admired those ready-for-bed-in-the-street clothes.

#### Derived terms

* closeted
* closet oneself

#### See also

* come out
* come out of the closet

### References

* ↑ Oxford English Dictionary. "closet, n."

### Anagrams

* colets, telcos

## Old French
### Etymology

From clos +‎ -et.

### Noun

closet oblique singular, m (oblique plural closez or closetz, nominative singular closez or closetz, nominative plural closet)
* A small enclosed area, such as a field or a paddock.

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English closet.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈklo.ze.t͡ʃi/
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈklo.ze.t͡ʃi/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈklo.ze.te/

### Noun

closet m (plural closets)
* dressing room, walk-in closet (US), walk-in wardrobe (UK) (a small room adjoining a domestic bedroom where people may dress or undress in privacy)
** 2020 September 2, Luane Baptista, “Como montar um closet no apartamento: ideias e orientações”, in CRB Construtora‎, archived from the original on 21 November 2021:

#### Derived terms

* closet americano

### Further reading

* “closet”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
* “closet”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* “closet”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025

## Romanian
### Etymology

From English (water) closet, via French (water-)closet and semi-calque German (Wasser)Klosett.

### Noun

closet n (plural closete)
* toilet, latrine, bathroom

#### See also

* baie
* toaletă

### References

* Romanian vocabulary. In: Haspelmath, M. & Tadmor, U. (eds.) World Loanword Database. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

## Spanish
### Noun

closet m (plural closets)
* Alternative spelling of clóset

## Welsh
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈklɔsɛt/

### Etymology 1

From English closet.

#### Alternative forms

* closed

#### Noun

closet m (plural closetau)
* closet

#### Further reading

* R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “closet”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Alternative forms

* cloet (colloquial)
* cloit (literary)

#### Verb

closet
* second-person singular conditional colloquial of cloi

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.