coffer

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a strong box or chest for storing money or valuables

   The old coffer held coins and legal papers.

2. 2
   noun

   a store or supply of money, especially belonging to an organization

   The tax filled the royal coffers.

3. 3
   noun

   a recessed ornamental panel in a ceiling or dome

   The ceiling was decorated with painted coffers.

From Old French cofre, from Latin cophinus, "basket," from Greek kophinos. It is a doublet of coffin; both began as containers, then specialized in different directions.

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