Bureau (pronounced BYOOR-oh) is a word with two main meanings:

1. A chest of drawers used for storing clothes, typically in a bedroom. Your bureau might have three or four drawers where you keep socks, shirts, and other clothing neatly organized.
2. A government office or department that handles a specific type of work. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigates major crimes. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks information about jobs and wages across the country. A bureau in this sense is an organized group of people working together on related tasks, usually with “bureau” as part of its official name.

You might also hear the word used for certain business offices, especially in news organizations. A newspaper's London bureau is its office in London, staffed by reporters who cover events in that region.

The two meanings seem unrelated, but both suggest a place where things are organized and managed: a furniture bureau organizes your belongings, while a government bureau organizes people and information to accomplish specific goals.