closetn.adj.

Brit.

/ˈklɒzɪt/, U.S.

/ˈklɑzət/

Forms: Middle English–1500s closette, Middle English–1600s closett, Middle English– closet, 1500s clauset, 1500s clausset, 1500s–1600s closset, 1600s clossett, 1600s 1900s– closit (regional); Scottish pre-1700 cloiset, pre-1700 cloissat, pre-1700 closait, pre-1700 closat, pre-1700 closate, pre-1700 closit, pre-1700 clositt, pre-1700 clossit, pre-1700 1700s closett, pre-1700 1700s– closet, 1900s– closad (Caithness).

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French closet.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman closet, closette (rare) closet, private room (a1399 or earlier), private chapel (1417 or earlier), specific use of Middle French closet small enclosure (late 13th cent. in Old French; French regional (Normandy) closet small enclosure, (Jersey) clioset small field) < clos close n.¹ + -et -et suffix¹.

A. n.

I. A secluded chamber or room.

a. A private or secluded room; an inner chamber. Now chiefly in historical contexts.Such rooms were formerly often reserved for particular purposes, such as prayer or religious contemplation (cf. Compounds 2) or attention to one's appearance (cf. bower n.¹ 2b). In later use the word generally denotes a small room; cf. sense A. 1d.In quot. a1387 spec. a monastic cell (cell n.¹ 4a).

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > private or inner room

bowerc1000

chamber?c1225

privy chambera1382

closeta1387

closera1400

conclavea1400

wardrobea1400

cell?1440

garderobe?c1450

retreatc1500

parlour1561

cabinet1565

cabin1594

in-room?1615

recamera1622

sanctum sanctorum1707

adytum1800

snuggery1812

sulking-room1816

sanctum1819

anderoon1840

inner sanctum1843

thalamus1850

growlery1853

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 313 (MED) Remigius from his childhode dwelled in a closett [L. reclusorio].

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 897 (MED) In a closet faste by The Duck was hid so prively That sche him myhte noght perceive.

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 1215 In to a closet for to auyse here bettre She wente allone.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Boke yf Eneydos xxii. sig. Fiij^v In her closet [she] hideth herself sore sighyng.

a1500 Roberd of Cisyle (Cambr. Ff.2.38) (1879) l. 60 A slepe hym toke In hys closet.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 206/1 Closet for a lady to make her redy in, chamberette.

1592 A. Day 2nd Pt. Eng. Secretorie sig. Q1, in Eng. Secretorie (rev. ed.) Wee do call the most secret place in the house appropriate vnto our owne priuate studies..a Closet.

1611 Bible (King James) Joel ii. 16 Let the bridegroome goe forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet .

c1680 W. Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 535 Retire into your closet..and there look back upon your lives.

c1689 in J. Y. Akerman Moneys Secret Services Charles II & James II (1851) 133 The Queen's garden closet at Windsor.

1713 A. Pope Narr. Robert Norris 6 While I was in my Closet pondering the Case of one of my Patients.

1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 14. ⁋3 A sudden intruder into the closet of an author.

1806 C. Cuthbertson Santo Sebastiano III. xx. 402 The moment Julia was dressed, she went once more into her closet, to fortify her mind again with firmness, before she joined the family.

1856 Cottager's Monthly Visitor Oct. 356 The next morning, before engaging in any other service, he hastened to his closet, and earnestly pleaded for aid in conducting his family devotions.

1901 Ann. Brit. School Athens 1899–1900 6 30 The ‘Room of the Chariot Tablets’ communicated..with an enclosed gallery giving access again to an inner closet.

1914 R. H. Benson Oddsfish! vi. 76 He said that Mr. Chiffinch had company in his inner closet; but that he would speak with him.

1985 J. Taylor Savage Conquest viii. 173 Amanda was relaxing in a steamy bath..when her sister burst into the private closet in a flurry of surprise and delight.

2002 Cultural Critique No. 52. 42 Renaissance architectural theorists..valued the gentleman's closet for its exclusivity and privilege.

b. The private apartment of a monarch or other person of high status; a private council chamber. Also, by metonymy: privileged discussions (of state affairs, etc.), imagined as being of the kind conducted in such a room or apartment. Now historical and in historical contexts.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > private or inner room > in a royal residence

privy chambera1382

parlourc1384

closet1447

1447 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) i. 30 (MED) Make ye myche of..the gode chere that the Maier had yn his Closet.

1570 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. (new ed.) ii. 127 That S. Peter..sitteth with him [sc. the Pope] in Consistorie, or in Clauset, discussinge of Cases.

1700 tr. G. de Courtilz de Sandras French Spy vi. 216 Monsieur de la Vienne..Conducted me into the King's Closet, there to expect his return from Mass.

1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xii. 81 You have now a strength sufficient to command the closet.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 547 James called into his closet Arnold Van Citters..and Everard Van Dykvelt.

1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. App. 577 Private dealings in the royal closet would be much more likely to be known..to a courtier and royal chaplain.

1907 E. Cadogan Life Cavour xii. 269 At Turin, in the Chambers and in the King's closet, he had enemies who were raising their heads.

1972 G. Rudé Europe 18th Cent. xiii. 207 Discussions were conducted and decisions taken behind the doors of the royal closet, the cabinet or chancellery.

2008 A. Rinaldi Redheaded Princess 11 It had been a private wedding in the Queen's closet at Hampton Court.

c. A space devoted to private study or speculative thought. Often figurative, and with the implication of abstract theorizing as opposed to practical experiment or experience of the real world. Cf. Compounds 3.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > private or inner room > study

studya1400

study place1563

closeta1600

studiolo1765

den1771

thinking box1911

a1600 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie vii. xxiv, in Wks. (1662) 70 Abroad and at home, at their Tables or in their Closets.

1686 N. Johnston Excellency Monarchical Govt. Introd. sig. a4 I hope, Gentlemen and Scholars will find it a pleasing divertisement in their Closets and Studies.

1747 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 2 Oct. (1932) (modernized text) III. 1024 The scholar, who in the dust of his closet talks or writes of the world, knows no more of it, than that orator did of war, who..endeavoured to instruct Hannibal in it.

1789 G. Morris in J. Sparks Life G. Morris (1832) I. 311 In their closets they make men exactly suited to their systems; but..such men as exist nowhere else.

1792 W. Cowper Let. 23 Mar. in Life & Posthumous Writings (1803) II. xiii. 15 If the play were designed for representation, I should be apt to think Cecilia's first speech rather too long... But since it is designed, as I understand, for the closet only, that objection seems of no importance.

1824 Lancet 21 Mar. 380/2 Those..have not spent their lives in the closet, but in watching disease.

1889 Spectator 23 Mar. The project..which..most attracts the philanthropists of the closet.

1905 Condor 7 65 I cannot imagine the future ornithologist or zoologist, working exclusively in his closet any more than the geologist, and for the same reason.

1937 Contemp. Rev. Jan. 126 The authors..are men of the closet, unfamiliar with the world of politics in which they are nominally living.

2012 M. Nuss Distance, Theatre, & Public Voice ii. 34 Joanna Baillie wrote for the closet but longed for the stage.

d. Chiefly Scottish and English regional (northern). With reference to size (rather than position or degree of seclusion): any small room, esp. one communicating with, or otherwise associated with, a larger room.Not always distinguishable from sense A. 1a or sense A. 4a.Cf. bed-closet n. at bed n. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > small room

parrockOE

cellc1300

cabin1362

parclosea1470

camerelle?c1475

crib1600

narrow cell1636

pigeonhole1703

closet1728

box1773

cuddy1793

cubby-hole1842

roomlet1855

cubby1868

cubby-house1880

cwtch1890

cellule1894

1728 J. Gibbs Bk. Archit. Introd. p. xv You..pass forward into a Gallery 70 feet long and 22 feet wide, having Closets at each end.

1766 Proof for Archibald Douglas of Douglas, Defender sig. E2 They say that their house..consisted of fifteen rooms and ten closets.

1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 200 The little room within..t'was a damp cold closet.

1800 Caledonian Mercury 30 Jan. (advt.) To be sold..The house possessed by Mr Walter Wood,..consisting of five rooms, kitchen, closets, &c.

1835 A. Cunningham Landscape Illustr. to Life & Wks. R. Burns 8 The farm house of Mossgiel..contains a ‘but and ben’ and a small closet;..the ‘closet’ is a kind of sanctuary for whatever the gude-wife desires to keep for mensing the house in festive times.

1839 Newcastle Courant 26 Apr. ii. 1/2 (advt.) The house contains 2 sitting rooms, 7 bed rooms, 2 light closets, and a kitchen.

1936 Scotsman 1 Feb. 2/7 (advt.) The house consists of 4 rooms, kitchen, closets, and other conveniences.

1978 A. Fenton Northern Isles xx. 172 In general, the Shetland cottage or croft house took the form of a but and ben and closet.

2005 A. Fenton Buchan Words & Ways iii. 65 Ben the hoose in the room, in the little closet off the kitchen, and in the two rooms up the stair, the floors were of wood.

†2. A private chapel, or reserved area of a church, for the use of a lord, monarch, etc.; (also) a private pew. Obsolete.Clerk of the Closet: see clerk n. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > sanctuary or holy place > chapel > [noun] > private

chapel1297

closetc1400

lararium1706

proprietary chapel1873

society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > pew > [noun] > private

pulpitc1390

closetc1400

pewc1400

family pew1747

pew bench1850

parlour pew1896

c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 934 Chaplayneȝ to þe chapeles chosen þe gate..Þe lorde loutes þerto, & þe lady als, In-to a comly closet coyntly ho entreȝ.

1448 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 369 (MED) On bothe sides of the same chirche, a closette with an auter therin.

c1450 Siege Troy (Rawl.) in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1913) 130 280 Fayre Elyne..Taking hir place on þe one side of the temple..being in here closet, seing this fressh lusty Paris..sodenly was so sette in hir hert, þat al Oþer thinges she foryete.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 206/1 Closet, chapelle.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lxxiii^v Also to thesame palais was rered a Chapell with twoo closettes.

1625 J. Mede in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. III. 202 If the Queens Closet where they now say masse were not large enough, let them have it in the Great Chamber.

a1741 C. Fiennes Through Eng. on Side Saddle (1888) 141 There was a little organ and Closets for y^e Lord and Ladies to sitt in.

a. A (usually small) room or cubicle fitted for urination or defecation; a toilet, a privy (= water closet n. 1; cf. toilet n. 9a). Also occasionally: a fixed receptacle used for urination or defecation (= water closet n. 2; cf. toilet n. 9b).Recorded earliest in † hosting closet n. Obsolete a privy constructed for use while on military campaign (cf. hosting n.).earth closet: see earth n.¹ Compounds 8b.See also closet of ease n. at Phrases 1.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > water-closet or lavatory

closet1496

water closet1736

water closet1747

throne room1787

W.C.1815

netty1825

convenience1841

Johnny1847

lavabo1852

restrooma1856

small room1858

cloakroom1865

lavatory1874

bathroom1883

toilet1886

can1900

place1902

lav1913

washroom1919

head1920

lavvy1922

dike1923

smallest room1930

John1931

khazi1932

loo1940

biffy1942

Wa1953

shitcan1954

commode1958

cludgie1961

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun]

gongOE

privy?c1225

room-housec1275

chamber foreignc1300

wardrobea1325

privy chamberc1325

foreignc1390

siegec1400

stool1410

jakes1432

house of easementa1438

kocayc1440

siege-hole1440

siege-house1440

privy house1463

withdraught1493

draught1530

shield1535

bench-hole1542

common house1542

stool1542

jakes house1547

boggard1552

house of office?1560

purging place1577

little house1579

issue1588

Ajax1596

draught-house1597

private1600

necessary house1612

vault1617

longhouse1622

latrine1623

necessary1633

commonsa1641

gingerbread officea1643

boghouse1644

cloaca1645

passage-house1646

retreat1653

shithouse1659

closet of ease1662

garderobe1680

backside1704

office1727

bog?1731

house of ease1734

cuz-john1735

easing-chair1771

backhouse1800

outhouse1819

netty1825

petty1848

seat of ease1850

closet1869

bathroom1883

crapper1927

lat1927

shouse1941

biffy1942

shitholec1947

toot1965

shitter1967

woodshed1974

1496 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 294 1c nalis to the Kingis oosting closait.

1553 in R. Renwick Extracts Rec. Royal Burgh of Lanark (1893) 29 [Leave] to byg ane closet apon the baksyd of his hous.

1564 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1875) III. 189 The south kirk dur..quhilk seruis of na thing at this present bot for ane commoun closit, continewallie fylit be the wikit.

1690 T. D'Urfey New Poems 72 Closestool was in the Closet shut, The Night-shift gone, and the dear Pot, Barb'rously hid the Lord knows where.

1854 Bristol Mercury 19 Aug. 3/4 (advt.) This is the only Manufactory in the kingdom for the exclusive production of Plug, Closet, Sanatory, and Lavatory Basins of all descriptions.

1869 E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 4 Some persons will use the closet twice daily.

1898 Doulton's Catal. in J. Heskett Industr. Design (1980) ii. 45 Doulton's improved pedestal ‘Simplicitas Wash-down’ closet and trap in one piece.

1907 Clin. Jrnl. 10 Apr. 402/1 Go to the closet? Why, that is just one of my troubles; I am very constipated.

1980 Observer 17 Feb. 9/2 I had occasion to use the loo... Emerging later from my closet [etc.].

2013 Bognor Regis Observer (Nexis) 25 Feb. Going to the loo was exciting, as we had to walk along a path to an Elsan chemical closet at the back of the hall.

†b. Scottish. A sewer. In early use also: an enclosed cesspit. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > provision of sewers > [noun] > sewer

cockey1390

gutterc1440

soughc1440

sew1475

withdraught1493

sink1499

syre1513

closet1531

draught1533

vault1533

drain1552

fleet1583

issue1588

drainer1598

guzzle1598

shore1598

sewer1609

vennel1641

cloaca1656

cuniculus1670

pend1817

thurrock1847

sewer line1977

1531 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Chron. Scotl. (1938) I. vi. ii. 223 [He] pullit oute his dagare, and draiff the King to þe hart... Incontinent he kest his body doun in þe closett [L. in cloacam inferiorem].

1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. App. i. 266 [He] Drew mony closatis, condittis, and sinkis fra the hicht of the towne to þe law partis þairof.

a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. l. 59203 Out-throw ane closat quhair the filth did ryn Of all that place.

a. A recess or space adjoining a room, generally closed off by a door or doors reaching to the floor, and used for storage of clothes, linen, utensils, household supplies, etc.; a built-in cupboard; a wardrobe.The word has been the standard term in North American use since at least the late 19th century for a cupboard which is built in rather than being fixed to a wall or free-standing, and which is sometimes large enough to walk into. During the later 20th century it has increasingly been used in British English to refer to such a place used for storing clothes, although cupboard and (especially) wardrobe are still used in this sense.drying-closet, linen closet, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > storage room

closet1532

spicery1536

bottle housea1637

housemaid's closet1819

housemaid's pantry1848

1532 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 46 For ij dayes worke & di' in makyng a Closett in my chamber xd.

1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) v. xxii. 585 The Confectionarie or Closet of sweet meats.

1686 in R. Machin Probate Inventories Chetnole, Leigh & Yetminster (1976) No. 86 His Apparell and Closset of books 6.0.0.

1799 J. Austen Let. 17 May (1995) 40 A Closet full of shelves..it..should therefore be called a Cupboard rather than a Closet.

1841 Dial July 127 A closet full of little colored muslin, and white linen caps.

1879 J. M. Wright Compl. Home v. 139 If there is no closet in the room, or in any part of the furniture, have a box, neatly covered, nailed against the wall..and use it as a closet for bottles and spoons.

1889 Cent. Dict. at Ambry In the larger churches and cathedrals ambries..were sometimes large enough to be what we should now call closets.

1929 M. de la Roche Whiteoaks xxiv. 333 Finch..ran upstairs to his attic room to look over his clothes. He took them from the closet.

1960 Times 14 Sept. 12/6 I had been warned of a few hazards such as..the use of closets rather than cupboards [in the United States].

1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 45 (advt.) 6 room home in immaculate condition. 3 bedrooms, closets galore.

2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 16 July 71 (advt.) Once you've seen the powerful results you get from this amazing [vacuum] cleaner, you can leave that upright in the closet.

2013 R. Rowell Fangirl (2014) xvi. 198 Regan kicked one of her shoes into her closet.

b. A place (whether in the form of a cupboard or of a room) where valuables are securely kept; (in later use more usually) a repository of curiosities (in later use esp. as closet of curiosities), often intended for display. Cf. cabinet n. 3b, 1a(a). Now rare and historical.china-closet: see china adj. and n.² Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > cupboard or cabinet > [noun] > for keeping or displaying valuables

cabinetc1550

closet?1553

court-cupboard1599

court-table1629

cabinet-box1663

?1553 tr. Pope Pius II Hist. Ladye Lucres & Eurialus sig. D.iv^v Than quod Lucres there is by the bed a darke closette [L. latibulum] where bee Iuels.

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear x. 11 I haue lockt the letter in my closet .

a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. ii. 130 But heere's a Parchment..I found it in his Closset, 'tis his Will.

1659 E. Ashmole Diary (1774) 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 Addr. Houses of Parl. conc. Succession 10 The late House of Commons have..seiz'd Closets and Writings without Information.

1708 J. Chamberlayne Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (ed. 22) ii. i. iii. 375 Silver coins..still preserved in the closets of the curious.

1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 153 A closet full of pieces of rock crystal.

1853 Leisure Hour 1 Sept. 571/2 There never was anything substantial about the building... What a closet full of curiosities it was once.

1999 J. T. Cliffe World Country House ii. 45 In some country houses there was a cabinet or closet of curiosities which often testified to the owner's scholarly disposition.

†5. The den or lair of a wild animal. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > by habitat > habitat > [noun] > dwelling place or shelter > of a wild animal

cabin1377

closet1576

harbour1576

fort1653

cell1735

1576 A. Fleming tr. J. Caius Of Eng. Dogges 11 A Tumbler...This Sort of dogges..doth soddenly gripe it [sc. the beast], at the very..mouth of their receptacles, or closets.

II. figurative. A place or state of concealment.

a. Something which encloses or contains things as a closet may do; a hidden or secret place, a recess, a repository; a place in which to hide, or in which to conceal something, esp. a secret.Cf. Phrases 2, esp. to bring (also drag, etc.) (something) out of the closet at Phrases 2a, and skeleton in the closet at skeleton n. 1b.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > a secret place, hiding place > [noun]

hidelsc975

hidela1300

bushc1330

hulkc1330

derna1340

tapissinga1340

coverta1375

hiding1382

loting-placea1398

cover14..

hiding placec1440

mewa1450

closetc1450

hole1483

cure1502

secret1530

shrouding place1571

ivy-bush1576

coney burrowa1586

hidlings1597

foxhole1606

shrouding corner1610

recess1611

subterfuge1616

latibule1623

latebra1626

blind1646

privacy1648

hide1649

retreat1697

rathole1770

hidey-hole1817

tod hole1846

hulster1880

hideout1885

cwtch1890

castle1898

lurk1906

stash1927

hideaway1930

c1450 J. Lydgate Ballade Our Lady (Sloane) l. 34 in Minor Poems (1911) i. 256 Modyr of mercy..Chambyr and closet clennest of chastyte.

1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) v. xiv. f. cx Within a lytel closet of his entendement.

1499 Contempl. Synners (de Worde) sig. Fij Of thy herte kepe ay clene the closette Where god delyteth to make his resydence.

1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 233 Went the sonne of god oute of the pryuy closet [L. cubiculo] of the maydens wombe.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 180 The knightes in the closet [sc. the Trojan Horse] comyn out swithe.

1549 J. Proctor Fal of Late Arrian sig. A.iii [Mary] Admitteth dailye into the priuey closet of her heart Gabriell, the fortitude and might of God.

1605 A. Munday tr. G. Affinati Dumbe Divine Speaker xxiii. 260 Let vs retyre into the secret closet of our harts, and desire the Lord, to send vs his sanctified Spirit.

1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia i. ii. 21 Enter..into the Closet of your Conscience.

1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 13 What Adam dreamt of when his Bride Came from her Closet in his side.

1766 Let. to Chat-em v. 22 Thus Chat-em resolved in the dark closet of his bosom.

1819 H. Busk Banquet iii. 209 Unlock the cellules, closets of the brain.

1828 C. Lamb in Blackwood's Mag. Dec. 772 She should entreasure up a secret In the peculiar closet of her breast.

1854 E. B. Eastwick tr. Anvár-i Suhailí iv. viii. 457 Anger is hidden in the closet of the heart, and resentment is concealed in the cell of the bosom.

1911 P. H. Blades Don Sagasto's Daughter xix. 323 She knew that Felicia would decline to admit even her into the innermost closet of her thought and life.

1948 Times 27 Aug. 6/4 A stroke which he plays to perfection..but which he keeps hidden away in the closet of his mind during a Test match.

1987 Artists' Newsletter Nov. 26/1 Conservation..is only emerging from the museum closet it's been hiding in for the last fifty years.

2016 Austral. Financial Rev. (Nexis) 23 Sept. 8 Albee repeatedly dared to ask what most of us retire to the closets of our minds for as long as possible: the fact of our inevitable ends.

b. Chiefly in the closet. [In allusion to in the closet at Phrases 2d and out of the closet at Phrases 2c.] A state of concealment regarding one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity.

ΚΠ

1970 Washington Monthly Dec. 40/2 Thousands and thousands turned out for the first big holiday from the closet.

1975 Human Behavior Aug. 16/1 Gay bars..seem to be just about everywhere, and in some cases they are going public. Maybe a new social lifestyle is happening. Or maybe the closet is only getting bigger.

1998 Prospect Mar. 21/2 For homosexuals, the closet meant driving love into an underworld of fear and squalor.

2006 S. Hough in B. Summerskill Way we are Now 213 There has been an increasing impatience with the lying and loneliness of the closet.

III. Heraldry.

7. An ordinary resembling the bar (bar n.¹ 6), but of half its breadth. Cf. barrulet n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > [noun] > charge of simplest or commonest kind > bar of two horizontal lines > smaller bars

gemew1486

barrulet1562

closet1562

humet1572

barret1587

bar-gemel1592

gemel1592

gemew1657

wiure1688

bandlet1850

bracelet-

1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory f. 116 He beareth Or, a clossett, Sanguine. This is the halfe of the barre aboue said.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory i. iv. 36/2 He beareth Or, five Barruletts Azure. This is also blazoned Or, five Closetts Azure.

1750 tr. B. de Montfaucon Antiq. France II. 24 Joan of Lanvin his Wife, (whose Coat of Arms was Or, three Closets Gules) died in 1480.

1847 H. Gough Gloss. Terms Brit. Heraldry 44 Bars-gemels are bars voided, or closets placed in couples.

1901 H. Wills Florentine Heraldry iii. 168 Rinaldi: Or, four closets azure surmounted of a bend gules.

1992 D. R. Mandich & J. A. Placek Russian Heraldry & Nobility 103 Gules, three closets dancettee debruised by an arrow erect argent.

B. adj. (attributive).

†1. Private, secluded; not intended for a wide audience. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > privacy > [adjective]

sundereOE

privyc1300

close1393

private1472

soleinc1475

secret1528

retired1595

implicit1610

cabinet1611

underhanda1616

closet1639

umbratile1640

closeteda1649

curtain1661

recluse1673

snug1710

pocket1804

entre nous1806

underground1820

sub rosa1824

esoterical1850

esoteric1876

1639 J. Symonds Case & Cure Deserted Soule xv. 159 If you be lesse active and serious in your retired and closet duties, then in those that are more open and publike.

a1656 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. Hist. New Test. (1661) II. iv. 89 There are stage-sins, and there are closet-sins.

1657 R. Austen Spirituall Use of Orchard (new ed.) 159 The secret and closet good works of [God's] people.

1706 J. Drake in Secret Mem. Earl of Leicester Pref. That these were not written for closet memoirs appears by the stile and manner of them.

2. Secret, covert; esp. not open about something concerning oneself which, if revealed, could cause problems or embarrassment. Sometimes ironic, with allusion to sense B. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] > disposed to secrecy, secretive

dernOE

covert1340

secrec1385

secretc1440

mum1532

closec1540

whist1577

as silent as the grave1613

privatea1625

dark1650

uncommunicating1650

dry1681

uncommunicative1691

unexpansive1847

secretive1853

tight-lipped1876

cagey1909

zip-lipped1943

closet1948

coy1961

tight1977

1948 Poetry Dec. 137 (poem title) The closet-drinker.

1953 Q. Jrnl. Stud. Alcohol 14 481 The ‘silent’ or ‘closet’ drinker..has withdrawn from social participation.

1967 Life 6 Jan. 12/3 William Buckley could quit playing devil's advocate and admit he's a closet liberal.

1985 Sunday Tel. 26 May 17/1 His defection [to Rome] is a blow because he was not a closet Papist intoxicated by bells and fancy vestments.

2005 M. Lewycka Short Hist. Tractors in Ukrainian vi. 62 ‘They were in love.’ What's this? Is Big Sis a closet romantic?

3. That is ‘in the closet’ (see Phrases 2d(a)); not open about one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity. Also: relating to or characterized by concealment or secrecy of this kind.Cf. earlier closet queen n. at Compounds 5 (originally a compound of the noun).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective]

dernc897

dighela1000

hid?c1225

stillc1275

stillyc1275

covertc1303

secrec1374

secret1399

secretivec1470

covered1484

dark1532

underhid1532

hiddena1547

concealed1558

abstruse1576

unshewing1598

mystical1600

of secreta1616

mystica1625

subterraneous1652

researched1653

hugger-mugger1692

hidlingsa1810

sub rosa1824

cachet1837

cloak and dagger1841

theftuous1881

q.t.1910

closet1966

down-low1991

the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > [adjective] > concealed or denied

closet1966

down-low1991

1966 ‘Petronius’ N.Y. Unexpurgated vi. 96 Celebrity fags are either full, zany camps; out-and-out drags; or discreet, closet fags.

1988 Marxism Today June 27/1 It is one way that Aids is being spread: by men existing in a very closet, cottaging sort of way, not doing safe sex.

2015 S. Dawson I hate Myselfie 44 Maybe we had similar interests? Maybe they were closet homosexuals with a fat fetish?

Phrases

P1. Noun phrases with of.

closet of ease n. now historical a toilet, a privy; = sense A. 3a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun]

gongOE

privy?c1225

room-housec1275

chamber foreignc1300

wardrobea1325

privy chamberc1325

foreignc1390

siegec1400

stool1410

jakes1432

house of easementa1438

kocayc1440

siege-hole1440

siege-house1440

privy house1463

withdraught1493

draught1530

shield1535

bench-hole1542

common house1542

stool1542

jakes house1547

boggard1552

house of office?1560

purging place1577

little house1579

issue1588

Ajax1596

draught-house1597

private1600

necessary house1612

vault1617

longhouse1622

latrine1623

necessary1633

commonsa1641

gingerbread officea1643

boghouse1644

cloaca1645

passage-house1646

retreat1653

shithouse1659

closet of ease1662

garderobe1680

backside1704

office1727

bog?1731

house of ease1734

cuz-john1735

easing-chair1771

backhouse1800

outhouse1819

netty1825

petty1848

seat of ease1850

closet1869

bathroom1883

crapper1927

lat1927

shouse1941

biffy1942

shitholec1947

toot1965

shitter1967

woodshed1974

1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 27 To make a Ladies Closet on the corner of a Wall where a Butteryses stood, and which was taken away for the Closet, intended only at first for a Closet of ease.

1804 E. King Munimenta Antiqua III. iii. i. 63 A small closet of ease..formed in one of the buttresses; having a narrow winding drain in the wall, that emptied itself through one of the external loops.

1885 R. F. Burton tr. Arabian Nights' Entertainm. I. v. 220 The groom fared forth from the hall and entering the closet of ease sat down on the stool.

1969 A. Davidson Phoenix & Mirror vii. 79 [He] suddenly became aware of that necessitous summons to which even kings are subject, and left the room to find a closet of ease.

2006 J. Westin Lady Katherine's Wild Ride xxvii. 300 Alain was there, ushering them about backstage to the tiring rooms, the wardrobe, the closet of ease, the stairs to the upper walkway.

† closet of the heart n. Obsolete the pericardium, which encloses the heart; (also) a chamber within the heart (in quot. 1657, the left atrium or ventricle).

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > vascular system > heart > [noun] > membranes of

coffer of the heart1398

pericardium?a1425

precordium?1541

closet of the heart1594

hulla1600

heart-purse1615

heart-bag1668

heart sac1828

epicardium1860

endocardium1872

1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 221 This skinne..is also called the litle closet of the heart [Fr. arche du cœur].

1657 W. Carr tr. L. Rivière Universal Body Physick i. §6. vi. 54 When the heart dilates it selfe, it attracts the Aire from the Lungs by the help of the Arteria Venosa, and the blood from the Vena Cava, that from the commistion of them in the left closet of the heart [L. sinistro sinu], the spirits may be generated.

P2.

a. to bring (also drag, etc.) (something) out of the closet: to expose for public scrutiny or to public knowledge (something which has previously been concealed or kept secret); to bring out into the open.Earliest with skeleton as object (cf. skeleton in the closet at skeleton n. 1b).

ΚΠ

1857 Punch 16 May 191/2 I can readily imagine two vicious old maids, keenly relishing a good ‘go-in’ at the reputation or circumstances of their friends. I can conceive their bitter pleasure in..routing out some grim skeleton from its closet in the house of a common acquaintance.

1892 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 1 Mar. 6/1 Seeing the spectre of prohibition dragged out of the closet in every political campaign.

1934 Liberty 11 Aug. 27/1 I wasn't sure if I'd better drag the subject out of the closet and rattle the bones.

1954 Waukesha (Wisconsin) Daily Freeman 11 Mar. 3/6 His object..is to take the subject ‘out of the closet’ as society has done with tuberculosis, mental diseases patients and the communicable diseases.

1977 Times of India 18 Mar. 8/4 Chronic failure to meet plan targets and facts of general mismanagement, corruption and inefficiency have been brought out of the closet and tabled in the central committee's own political report.

2005 Independent 5 Dec. 32/6 The answer to the heinous problem of sexual slavery is to bring prostitution out of the closet and allow proper licensed zones for it.

b. colloquial (originally U.S.). to come out of the closet.

(a) To cease to conceal or deny one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity. Cf. to come out 13b at come v. Phrasal verbs 1.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > [verb (intransitive)] > acknowledge or declare openly one's sexual orientation

to come out of the closet1968

to come out1970

1968 Berkeley Barb 15 Mar. 12/1 Come out of the closet long enuf to attend the East Bay Gay Discussion Group Fridays.

1971 N.Y. Times Mag. 17 Jan. 9/4 It took me almost 50 years to come out of the closet, to stop pretending to be something I was not.

1978 M. Puzo Fools Die xli. 453 She was coming out of the closet and without words she was telling the world of her bisexuality.

2010 Hoosier Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 25 Apr. (Herald-Times ed.) (Parade section) 14/1 After more than a decade of keeping his sexual preference under wraps, he's recently come out of the closet.

(b) More generally: to cease to conceal something which, if revealed, could cause problems or embarrassment; to admit something openly. Also with the problematic issue as the subject. Frequently ironic. Cf. to come out 13c at Phrasal verbs 1.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > disclose or make revelations [verb (intransitive)]

cough1393

wrayc1425

to break a secreta1450

to tell allc1450

to bring (also put) to light1526

to let on1725

to open up1884

to come out of the closet1971

to come out1976

1971 San Antonio (Texas) Light 8 Aug. (S. Texas Today section) 22/4 Now I think he's gonna come out of the closet and use his real name.

1994 Denver Post 18 Sept. e5/1 Population growth is coming out of the closet as the major political issue of the decade.

2012 J. M. Hobson Eurocentric Conception of World Politics xiii. 344 Some Eurocentrics might wish to ‘come out of the closet’ and openly defend or even celebrate their Eurocentrism.

c. colloquial (originally U.S.). out of the closet.

(a) Not seeking to conceal or deny one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > [adverb] > openly acknowledging one's sexual orientation

out of the closet1965

out1974

1965 Transvestia (Los Angeles) No. 36. 86 Give the ‘guy’ his due and don't forget him in the struggle to let ‘her’ out of the closet.

1970 Atlantic July 72/1 There are as many homosexuals per capita in Gloucester as anywhere else in the world, I suppose, but they are mostly in closets. This guy was long out of the closet.

2016 Internat. N.Y. Times (Nexis) 15 June 9 Despite the celebration of gay liberation, many gay men were not out of the closet.

(b) More generally: not seeking to conceal something which, if revealed, could cause problems or embarrassment; open about a potentially problematic issue. Sometimes ironic.

ΚΠ

1983 Associated Press (Nexis) 16 July The Invisible Empire, one of several Klan groups, already is out of the closet to some extent.

2001 A. Dangor Bitter Fruit (2004) xxi. 238 I am just a middle-aged, white moffie, newly out of the closet, exposed for what I am in the greying of my life.

2011 Associated Press State & Local Wire (Nexis) 19 Apr. Vice President Joe Biden says Republicans are ‘out of the closet’ about their approach to dealing with the nation's federal budget woes.

d. colloquial (originally U.S.). in the closet.

(a) Not open about one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity. Also with the identity as the subject. Cf. sense B. 3.

ΚΠ

1968 M. Crowley Boys in Band iv. 120 Do you know what it means to be ‘in the closet’.

1978 J. Gores Gone, no Forwarding (1979) xiii. 79 Simson was much straighter-looking..than when his sexual preference had still been in the closet.

2006 Advocate 17 Jan. 74/1 One of my closest gay friends was a Tony-winning actor... He was also in the closet, terrified of being exposed.

(b) More generally: not open about something which, if revealed, could cause problems or embarrassment. Sometimes ironic.

ΚΠ

1977 N.Y. Times 13 June 63/3 Nobody's in the closet about nudism anymore.

1992 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. a9/4 We are the last group in the closet in all of America... We have to stand up unashamedly every day and say we are black Republicans.

2016 Guardian (Nexis) 2 May I know a lot of long-distance runners that are in the closet about their cannabis use.

Compounds

C1. General attributive, as closet door, closet shelf, etc.

ΚΠ

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 684 Here in þis closet dore with-oute..youre wommen lyggen alle.

1631 T. Heywood Fair Maid of West: 1st Pt. iv. 42 Fetch me that parchment in my Closet window.

1685 London Gaz. No. 2068/4 One Closet Candlestick, with Snuffers and Extinguisher.

1778 T. B. Attwood Let. 8 Aug. in E. Mascall Remnants of Life (1902) 221 The closet doors burst at the hinges.

1893 Good Housek. Sept. 130/1 She doesn't take any pleasure in her pretty things if they have to be kept in the lid of a trunk or a bandbox on the closet shelf.

1926 G. Hunting Vicarion iv. 63 He..closed the closet door which stood ajar.

1937 Amer. Home Apr. 124/1 (advt.) These cleverly designed fixtures will give you that closet space you desire.

2000 K. Reichs Deadly Décisions xxiii. 192 I dug around on my closet floor, located my Top-Siders, and broke a nail yanking them on.

C2. attributive. Denoting prayer, religious contemplation, etc., which is conducted privately rather than publicly. Cf. sense A. 1a.Cf. Matthew 6:6: ‘When thou prayest, enter into thy closet’ (King James Bible).In some instances approaching the status of an adjective: cf. sense B. 1.

ΚΠ

1608 T. Cooper Christians Daily Sacrifice 171 Bewaile wee seriously our neglect of closet prayer.

1701 E. Saunders Domestick Charge iii. 71 That he set or teach them, some short Prayers for their secret and Closet Devotion.

1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks III. Misc. v. iii. 328 [Bp. J. Taylor's Treatises] are in use..as well for Church-Service as Closet-Preparation.

1796 J. Cole Mem. Hannah Ball 38 I am strongly tempted to contract the profitable exercise of closet devotion.

1843 Gen. Baptist Repository Dec. 354 Every one who has attained to eminence in the ways of religion, has obtained his strength and consolation, his joy and hope, mainly though the medium of closet devotion.

a1859 J. W. Alexander Thoughts on Preaching (1861) ii. 81 Of all people on earth, ministers most need the constant impressions derived from closet piety.

1919 C. E. Russell After Whirlwind 193 He [sc. Jesus] was not giving a precept for closet observance but a maxim sound for all men, at all times, for all uses.

1992 E. Christenson What happens when Women Pray viii. 92 We can often recognize..those who have spent time in private closet prayer and the others who have come perhaps to do the only praying that they have done all week.

C3. attributive.

a. With the sense ‘of, relating to, involving, or arising from private study or speculative thought’ (cf. sense A. 1c). Sometimes also with the sense ‘theoretical or abstract rather than practical’.In some instances approaching the status of an adjective: cf. sense B. 1.

ΚΠ

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 205 They call this bed-worke, mappry, Closet warre.

1698 Remarks Wrong Computations & Concl. 40 This Gentleman, whose Closet-Speculations (upon these Branches) have not been enlightened and assisted by Practice and Experience.

1733 Pract. Husbandman & Planter I. Introd. p. xxii As learned a Closet Philosopher as any has appear'd in this Hemisphere for many Years. [Note] Dr. Woodward, in his Essay on Vegetation.

1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 25 Mar. in Lett. to Son (1774) I. 272 The laboured reflections of a systematical closet politician, who, without the least experience of business, sits at home and writes maxims.

1782 F. Burney Cecilia I. i. ii. 20 The closet reasoner.

1815 T. Jefferson Let. 14 Feb. in Writings (1984) 1361 Closet politicians merely, unpractised in the knowledge of man.

1818 B. O'Reilly Greenland 243 Sailing to the north pole has been long a very favourite subject for closet lucubration.

1827 Examiner 18 Nov. 726/1 Like most closet students..he appears to have imbibed a terrible apprehension of popular power.

a1847 T. Chalmers in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1851) I. 476 Nature takes her own way, unmindful of the closet speculations of theory.

1851 F. Palgrave Hist. Normandy & Eng. I. 61 None of the Desk and Closet-helps for philological study.

1910 T. Roosevelt Afr. & European Addr. 53 The closet philosopher, the refined and cultured individual who from his library tells how men ought to be governed under ideal conditions, is of no use in actual governmental work.

1935 Q. Rev. Mich. Alumnus Summer 494/1 The dramatic record of medical science and applied medicine, in their struggles..against closet theorizing.

1988 Bentham Newslet. June 12 The censor depicted by Helvetius was no closet philosopher: he was a builder of states and an advisor of great leaders.

b. With the sense ‘of or relating to the writing of plays intended to be read rather than performed; (also) designating such a play’, as closet drama, closet play, etc.

ΚΠ

1813 La Belle Assemblée Jan. 368/1 No tricks, no rant, no fighting, not even a solitary song! it will be called a mere closet play, quite a hum drum.

1822 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 448/1 There exists no living dramatic genius, as yet displayed, notwithstanding the late publication of many exquisite closet-dramas.

1833 Court Mag. Dec. 230/1 Professor Silliman..wrote closet tragedies and lackadaisical sonnets ‘to his mistress' eyebrow’.

1872 Scribner's Monthly Aug. 510/2 The second book [by Mr. Longfellow] is a closet drama, entitled ‘Judas Maccabaeus’.

1898 Sewanee Rev. 6 14 Closet-dramatists like Lycophron, study poets like Apollonius Rhodius, are the typical products of the day.

1907 N. Amer. Rev. 16 Aug. 880 He seems to sense his themes as narrative, instead of drama; and he writes in closet-verse, instead of theatre-verse.

1991 Tulsa Stud. Women's Lit. 10 233 Cary's transformation of the genre of closet drama..demonstrates that Mariam is more than slavish imitation.

2013 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 6 June 40 Why has this extraordinary play never been performed by a major professional theatre company, and does it really deserve to be labelled a ‘closet’ play?

†C4. attributive. With the sense ‘of or relating to the private apartment or council chamber of a monarch, etc.’. Cf. sense A. 1b. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης xxiv. 195 Reasons, why he should rather pray by the officiating mouth of a Closet-Chaplain.

1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης xxiv. 193 They knew the King..to have suckt from them and thir Closetwork all his impotent Principles of Tyrannie and Superstition.

C5.

closet case n. slang (originally U.S.) (a) an unattractive or embarrassing person, a social outcast; (b) a person who seeks conceals or denies his or her sexuality, gender identity, etc. (cf. sense B. 3).

ΚΠ

1946 Washington Post 7 Oct. 5/2 Unattractive girls are ‘strictly closet cases’, meaning they should be in the closet when men are around.

1965 Transvestia (Los Angeles) No. 34. 14 I do not feel that it is essential to chase around dressed all over the countryside just in order to be an FP [i.e. femmiphile]. Nor do I feel we must permanently be closet cases.

1966 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily Northwestern 24 Sept. 22/2 Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater is being treated by Republicans as a campaign closet case this time around.

1969 S. Harris Puritan Jungle x. 191 They're what we call ‘closet cases’, hiding and scared to death of exposure.

2003 Out Feb. 14/1 Out 's getting less willing to shower accolades on closet cases who emerge seconds before tabloids push them out.

closet chapel n. a closet used for private devotion; a private or small chapel.

ΚΠ

1523 Inventory in State Papers Henry VIII (P.R.O.: SP 1/27) f. 254 In the clausett chapell Furst a table of the salutacoun of our lady.

a1626 I. Jones in J. Lees-Milne Age Inigo Jones (1953) iv. 82 Chimneypiece in her Majesty's closet chapel at St. Jameses.

1647 T. Fuller Good Thoughts in Worse Times iv. iii. 138 What? Severall Closset-Chappells, for those of the same Bed and Board?

1993 J. P. McNamee Diary City Priest i. 13 Finishing my hospital run, I leave the Sister and enter the dark closet-chapel.

2015 L. A. Forster-Smith Crossing Thresholds v. 51 That night I also entered another sanctum, not unlike my previous college's little closet chapel.

† closet-draught n. Obsolete rare a drawing or likeness of sufficiently high quality to be kept in a closet (sense A. 4b).In quot. figurative.

ΚΠ

1691 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. 339 If God is to be Praised for the Beauty of the Rain-bow..how much more is he to be adored for these great Master-pieces of his Art [sc. Angels], these Closet-Draughts of his Beauty.

closet-keeper n. now historical a person charged with keeping or maintaining the contents (esp. valuable items) of a closet (chiefly in sense A. 4).

ΚΠ

1624 E. Forset Def. Right of Kings 12 Now it is meete we look into the maine and substantiall point of doctrine, which (as if hee were closset-keeper to the Pope) hee confidently deliuereth to be Catholike and Orthodoxall.

1666 S. Pepys Diary 8 Apr. (1972) VII. 94 Tom Cheffins..the King's closet-keeper.

1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting II. iii. 116 The office of closet-keeper to the King.

1896 Daily News 15 June 8/2 He saw the King's closet-keeper carry out the King's papers to the camp.

1948 F. C. Turner James II i. xiii. 227 William Chiffinch had succeeded his father Thomas Chiffinch in 1666 as closet-keeper to Charles II.

2013 Simiolus 37 59/1 The collection of a Mr Simonis, closet-keeper to Archduke Leopold in Brussels.

closet organizer n. a storage system, usually installed in a closet, for keeping clothing and other items organized.

ΚΠ

1951 Fitchburg (Mass.) Sentinel 15 Nov. (advt.) Rust-proof skirt racks. Wonderful closet organizer! 5 tier, holds up to 10 skirts neatly.

1993 Tel. & Gaz. (Worcester, Mass.) 25 July g1 Closet organizers..make college life easier while they add to dorm decor.

2013 I. Smyles Iris has Free Time 338 The closet organizer that's going to revolutionize the way you store your clothes needs first to be put together.

† closet picture n. Obsolete a picture of a type suitable to be kept in a private chamber or cabinet (see cabinet n. and adj. Compounds 1).In quot. a1894 apparently figurative, although the literal use appears to be already rare by this date.

ΚΠ

1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (i. 16) 294 So the worldling heares us preach of Christ, his precious merits, grievous passion, gracious redemption, glorious reward; but still his Closset-picture he thinkes better of than all these.

1721 London Gaz. No. 6003/3 Great choice of the finest Closet Pictures.

1780 W. Beckford Biogr. Mem. Painters 11 It is incredible what elegant closet pictures he lavished upon this haughty beauty.

a1894 R. L. Stevenson Amateur Emigrant (1895) 21 This [description] is the closet picture, and is found, on trial, to consist mostly of embellishments.

closet queen n. slang a homosexual man who conceals or denies his sexuality; cf. sense B. 3.Suggested currency in graffiti dating from 1959 (see J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1994) I. 438/1) has not been verified.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male > who conceals or denies sexuality

closet queen1963

1963 L. Jones Moderns 299 He and later his friend (the music teacher) Freddy. A ‘closet queen’.

1977 C. A. B. Warren & B. Ponse in J. D. Douglas & J. M. Johnson Existential Sociol. 304 A closet queen for the overt community is one who will not admit gayness to straight audiences; for the secret community, it refers to one who will not affiliate with the gay community for fear of stigmatization.

1984 Mail on Sunday 2 Dec. (Colour Suppl.) 28/2 His colleagues' retort is that Jimmy is a closet queen because he doesn't live with a woman.

2002 J. James Andrew & Joey 36 He's the quietest little man in the world... I think he's actually a closet queen.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	closet
释义	closetn.adj. Brit. /ˈklɒzɪt/, U.S. /ˈklɑzət/ Forms: Middle English–1500s closette, Middle English–1600s closett, Middle English– closet, 1500s clauset, 1500s clausset, 1500s–1600s closset, 1600s clossett, 1600s 1900s– closit (regional); Scottish pre-1700 cloiset, pre-1700 cloissat, pre-1700 closait, pre-1700 closat, pre-1700 closate, pre-1700 closit, pre-1700 clositt, pre-1700 clossit, pre-1700 1700s closett, pre-1700 1700s– closet, 1900s– closad (Caithness). Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French closet. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman closet, closette (rare) closet, private room (a1399 or earlier), private chapel (1417 or earlier), specific use of Middle French closet small enclosure (late 13th cent. in Old French; French regional (Normandy) closet small enclosure, (Jersey) clioset small field) < clos close n.¹ + -et -et suffix¹. A. n. I. A secluded chamber or room. 1. a. A private or secluded room; an inner chamber. Now chiefly in historical contexts.Such rooms were formerly often reserved for particular purposes, such as prayer or religious contemplation (cf. Compounds 2) or attention to one's appearance (cf. bower n.¹ 2b). In later use the word generally denotes a small room; cf. sense A. 1d.In quot. a1387 spec. a monastic cell (cell n.¹ 4a). ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > private or inner room bowerc1000 chamber?c1225 privy chambera1382 closeta1387 closera1400 conclavea1400 wardrobea1400 cell?1440 garderobe?c1450 retreatc1500 parlour1561 cabinet1565 cabin1594 in-room?1615 recamera1622 sanctum sanctorum1707 adytum1800 snuggery1812 sulking-room1816 sanctum1819 anderoon1840 inner sanctum1843 thalamus1850 growlery1853 a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 313 (MED) Remigius from his childhode dwelled in a closett [L. reclusorio]. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 897 (MED) In a closet faste by The Duck was hid so prively That sche him myhte noght perceive. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 1215 In to a closet for to auyse here bettre She wente allone. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Boke yf Eneydos xxii. sig. Fiij^v In her closet [she] hideth herself sore sighyng. a1500 Roberd of Cisyle (Cambr. Ff.2.38) (1879) l. 60 A slepe hym toke In hys closet. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 206/1 Closet for a lady to make her redy in, chamberette. 1592 A. Day 2nd Pt. Eng. Secretorie sig. Q1, in Eng. Secretorie (rev. ed.) Wee do call the most secret place in the house appropriate vnto our owne priuate studies..a Closet. 1611 Bible (King James) Joel ii. 16 Let the bridegroome goe forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet . View more context for this quotation c1680 W. Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 535 Retire into your closet..and there look back upon your lives. c1689 in J. Y. Akerman Moneys Secret Services Charles II & James II (1851) 133 The Queen's garden closet at Windsor. 1713 A. Pope Narr. Robert Norris 6 While I was in my Closet pondering the Case of one of my Patients. 1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 14. ⁋3 A sudden intruder into the closet of an author. 1806 C. Cuthbertson Santo Sebastiano III. xx. 402 The moment Julia was dressed, she went once more into her closet, to fortify her mind again with firmness, before she joined the family. 1856 Cottager's Monthly Visitor Oct. 356 The next morning, before engaging in any other service, he hastened to his closet, and earnestly pleaded for aid in conducting his family devotions. 1901 Ann. Brit. School Athens 1899–1900 6 30 The ‘Room of the Chariot Tablets’ communicated..with an enclosed gallery giving access again to an inner closet. 1914 R. H. Benson Oddsfish! vi. 76 He said that Mr. Chiffinch had company in his inner closet; but that he would speak with him. 1985 J. Taylor Savage Conquest viii. 173 Amanda was relaxing in a steamy bath..when her sister burst into the private closet in a flurry of surprise and delight. 2002 Cultural Critique No. 52. 42 Renaissance architectural theorists..valued the gentleman's closet for its exclusivity and privilege. b. The private apartment of a monarch or other person of high status; a private council chamber. Also, by metonymy: privileged discussions (of state affairs, etc.), imagined as being of the kind conducted in such a room or apartment. Now historical and in historical contexts. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > private or inner room > in a royal residence privy chambera1382 parlourc1384 closet1447 1447 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) i. 30 (MED) Make ye myche of..the gode chere that the Maier had yn his Closet. 1570 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. (new ed.) ii. 127 That S. Peter..sitteth with him [sc. the Pope] in Consistorie, or in Clauset, discussinge of Cases. 1700 tr. G. de Courtilz de Sandras French Spy vi. 216 Monsieur de la Vienne..Conducted me into the King's Closet, there to expect his return from Mass. 1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xii. 81 You have now a strength sufficient to command the closet. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 547 James called into his closet Arnold Van Citters..and Everard Van Dykvelt. 1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. App. 577 Private dealings in the royal closet would be much more likely to be known..to a courtier and royal chaplain. 1907 E. Cadogan Life Cavour xii. 269 At Turin, in the Chambers and in the King's closet, he had enemies who were raising their heads. 1972 G. Rudé Europe 18th Cent. xiii. 207 Discussions were conducted and decisions taken behind the doors of the royal closet, the cabinet or chancellery. 2008 A. Rinaldi Redheaded Princess 11 It had been a private wedding in the Queen's closet at Hampton Court. c. A space devoted to private study or speculative thought. Often figurative, and with the implication of abstract theorizing as opposed to practical experiment or experience of the real world. Cf. Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > private or inner room > study studya1400 study place1563 closeta1600 studiolo1765 den1771 thinking box1911 a1600 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie vii. xxiv, in Wks. (1662) 70 Abroad and at home, at their Tables or in their Closets. 1686 N. Johnston Excellency Monarchical Govt. Introd. sig. a4 I hope, Gentlemen and Scholars will find it a pleasing divertisement in their Closets and Studies. 1747 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 2 Oct. (1932) (modernized text) III. 1024 The scholar, who in the dust of his closet talks or writes of the world, knows no more of it, than that orator did of war, who..endeavoured to instruct Hannibal in it. 1789 G. Morris in J. Sparks Life G. Morris (1832) I. 311 In their closets they make men exactly suited to their systems; but..such men as exist nowhere else. 1792 W. Cowper Let. 23 Mar. in Life & Posthumous Writings (1803) II. xiii. 15 If the play were designed for representation, I should be apt to think Cecilia's first speech rather too long... But since it is designed, as I understand, for the closet only, that objection seems of no importance. 1824 Lancet 21 Mar. 380/2 Those..have not spent their lives in the closet, but in watching disease. 1889 Spectator 23 Mar. The project..which..most attracts the philanthropists of the closet. 1905 Condor 7 65 I cannot imagine the future ornithologist or zoologist, working exclusively in his closet any more than the geologist, and for the same reason. 1937 Contemp. Rev. Jan. 126 The authors..are men of the closet, unfamiliar with the world of politics in which they are nominally living. 2012 M. Nuss Distance, Theatre, & Public Voice ii. 34 Joanna Baillie wrote for the closet but longed for the stage. d. Chiefly Scottish and English regional (northern). With reference to size (rather than position or degree of seclusion): any small room, esp. one communicating with, or otherwise associated with, a larger room.Not always distinguishable from sense A. 1a or sense A. 4a.Cf. bed-closet n. at bed n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > small room parrockOE cellc1300 cabin1362 parclosea1470 camerelle?c1475 crib1600 narrow cell1636 pigeonhole1703 closet1728 box1773 cuddy1793 cubby-hole1842 roomlet1855 cubby1868 cubby-house1880 cwtch1890 cellule1894 1728 J. Gibbs Bk. Archit. Introd. p. xv You..pass forward into a Gallery 70 feet long and 22 feet wide, having Closets at each end. 1766 Proof for Archibald Douglas of Douglas, Defender sig. E2 They say that their house..consisted of fifteen rooms and ten closets. 1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 200 The little room within..t'was a damp cold closet. 1800 Caledonian Mercury 30 Jan. (advt.) To be sold..The house possessed by Mr Walter Wood,..consisting of five rooms, kitchen, closets, &c. 1835 A. Cunningham Landscape Illustr. to Life & Wks. R. Burns 8 The farm house of Mossgiel..contains a ‘but and ben’ and a small closet;..the ‘closet’ is a kind of sanctuary for whatever the gude-wife desires to keep for mensing the house in festive times. 1839 Newcastle Courant 26 Apr. ii. 1/2 (advt.) The house contains 2 sitting rooms, 7 bed rooms, 2 light closets, and a kitchen. 1936 Scotsman 1 Feb. 2/7 (advt.) The house consists of 4 rooms, kitchen, closets, and other conveniences. 1978 A. Fenton Northern Isles xx. 172 In general, the Shetland cottage or croft house took the form of a but and ben and closet. 2005 A. Fenton Buchan Words & Ways iii. 65 Ben the hoose in the room, in the little closet off the kitchen, and in the two rooms up the stair, the floors were of wood. †2. A private chapel, or reserved area of a church, for the use of a lord, monarch, etc.; (also) a private pew. Obsolete.Clerk of the Closet: see clerk n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > sanctuary or holy place > chapel > [noun] > private chapel1297 closetc1400 lararium1706 proprietary chapel1873 society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > pew > [noun] > private pulpitc1390 closetc1400 pewc1400 family pew1747 pew bench1850 parlour pew1896 c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 934 Chaplayneȝ to þe chapeles chosen þe gate..Þe lorde loutes þerto, & þe lady als, In-to a comly closet coyntly ho entreȝ. 1448 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 369 (MED) On bothe sides of the same chirche, a closette with an auter therin. c1450 Siege Troy (Rawl.) in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1913) 130 280 Fayre Elyne..Taking hir place on þe one side of the temple..being in here closet, seing this fressh lusty Paris..sodenly was so sette in hir hert, þat al Oþer thinges she foryete. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 206/1 Closet, chapelle. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lxxiii^v Also to thesame palais was rered a Chapell with twoo closettes. 1625 J. Mede in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. III. 202 If the Queens Closet where they now say masse were not large enough, let them have it in the Great Chamber. a1741 C. Fiennes Through Eng. on Side Saddle (1888) 141 There was a little organ and Closets for y^e Lord and Ladies to sitt in. 3. a. A (usually small) room or cubicle fitted for urination or defecation; a toilet, a privy (= water closet n. 1; cf. toilet n. 9a). Also occasionally: a fixed receptacle used for urination or defecation (= water closet n. 2; cf. toilet n. 9b).Recorded earliest in † hosting closet n. Obsolete a privy constructed for use while on military campaign (cf. hosting n.).earth closet: see earth n.¹ Compounds 8b.See also closet of ease n. at Phrases 1. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > water-closet or lavatory closet1496 water closet1736 water closet1747 throne room1787 W.C.1815 netty1825 convenience1841 Johnny1847 lavabo1852 restrooma1856 small room1858 cloakroom1865 lavatory1874 bathroom1883 toilet1886 can1900 place1902 lav1913 washroom1919 head1920 lavvy1922 dike1923 smallest room1930 John1931 khazi1932 loo1940 biffy1942 Wa1953 shitcan1954 commode1958 cludgie1961 the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] gongOE privy?c1225 room-housec1275 chamber foreignc1300 wardrobea1325 privy chamberc1325 foreignc1390 siegec1400 stool1410 jakes1432 house of easementa1438 kocayc1440 siege-hole1440 siege-house1440 privy house1463 withdraught1493 draught1530 shield1535 bench-hole1542 common house1542 stool1542 jakes house1547 boggard1552 house of office?1560 purging place1577 little house1579 issue1588 Ajax1596 draught-house1597 private1600 necessary house1612 vault1617 longhouse1622 latrine1623 necessary1633 commonsa1641 gingerbread officea1643 boghouse1644 cloaca1645 passage-house1646 retreat1653 shithouse1659 closet of ease1662 garderobe1680 backside1704 office1727 bog?1731 house of ease1734 cuz-john1735 easing-chair1771 backhouse1800 outhouse1819 netty1825 petty1848 seat of ease1850 closet1869 bathroom1883 crapper1927 lat1927 shouse1941 biffy1942 shitholec1947 toot1965 shitter1967 woodshed1974 1496 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 294 1c nalis to the Kingis oosting closait. 1553 in R. Renwick Extracts Rec. Royal Burgh of Lanark (1893) 29 [Leave] to byg ane closet apon the baksyd of his hous. 1564 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1875) III. 189 The south kirk dur..quhilk seruis of na thing at this present bot for ane commoun closit, continewallie fylit be the wikit. 1690 T. D'Urfey New Poems 72 Closestool was in the Closet shut, The Night-shift gone, and the dear Pot, Barb'rously hid the Lord knows where. 1854 Bristol Mercury 19 Aug. 3/4 (advt.) This is the only Manufactory in the kingdom for the exclusive production of Plug, Closet, Sanatory, and Lavatory Basins of all descriptions. 1869 E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 4 Some persons will use the closet twice daily. 1898 Doulton's Catal. in J. Heskett Industr. Design (1980) ii. 45 Doulton's improved pedestal ‘Simplicitas Wash-down’ closet and trap in one piece. 1907 Clin. Jrnl. 10 Apr. 402/1 Go to the closet? Why, that is just one of my troubles; I am very constipated. 1980 Observer 17 Feb. 9/2 I had occasion to use the loo... Emerging later from my closet [etc.]. 2013 Bognor Regis Observer (Nexis) 25 Feb. Going to the loo was exciting, as we had to walk along a path to an Elsan chemical closet at the back of the hall. †b. Scottish. A sewer. In early use also: an enclosed cesspit. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > provision of sewers > [noun] > sewer cockey1390 gutterc1440 soughc1440 sew1475 withdraught1493 sink1499 syre1513 closet1531 draught1533 vault1533 drain1552 fleet1583 issue1588 drainer1598 guzzle1598 shore1598 sewer1609 vennel1641 cloaca1656 cuniculus1670 pend1817 thurrock1847 sewer line1977 1531 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Chron. Scotl. (1938) I. vi. ii. 223 [He] pullit oute his dagare, and draiff the King to þe hart... Incontinent he kest his body doun in þe closett [L. in cloacam inferiorem]. 1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. App. i. 266 [He] Drew mony closatis, condittis, and sinkis fra the hicht of the towne to þe law partis þairof. a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. l. 59203 Out-throw ane closat quhair the filth did ryn Of all that place. 4. a. A recess or space adjoining a room, generally closed off by a door or doors reaching to the floor, and used for storage of clothes, linen, utensils, household supplies, etc.; a built-in cupboard; a wardrobe.The word has been the standard term in North American use since at least the late 19th century for a cupboard which is built in rather than being fixed to a wall or free-standing, and which is sometimes large enough to walk into. During the later 20th century it has increasingly been used in British English to refer to such a place used for storing clothes, although cupboard and (especially) wardrobe are still used in this sense.drying-closet, linen closet, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > storage room closet1532 spicery1536 bottle housea1637 housemaid's closet1819 housemaid's pantry1848 1532 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 46 For ij dayes worke & di' in makyng a Closett in my chamber xd. 1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) v. xxii. 585 The Confectionarie or Closet of sweet meats. 1686 in R. Machin Probate Inventories Chetnole, Leigh & Yetminster (1976) No. 86 His Apparell and Closset of books 6.0.0. 1799 J. Austen Let. 17 May (1995) 40 A Closet full of shelves..it..should therefore be called a Cupboard rather than a Closet. 1841 Dial July 127 A closet full of little colored muslin, and white linen caps. 1879 J. M. Wright Compl. Home v. 139 If there is no closet in the room, or in any part of the furniture, have a box, neatly covered, nailed against the wall..and use it as a closet for bottles and spoons. 1889 Cent. Dict. at Ambry In the larger churches and cathedrals ambries..were sometimes large enough to be what we should now call closets. 1929 M. de la Roche Whiteoaks xxiv. 333 Finch..ran upstairs to his attic room to look over his clothes. He took them from the closet. 1960 Times 14 Sept. 12/6 I had been warned of a few hazards such as..the use of closets rather than cupboards [in the United States]. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 45 (advt.) 6 room home in immaculate condition. 3 bedrooms, closets galore. 2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 16 July 71 (advt.) Once you've seen the powerful results you get from this amazing [vacuum] cleaner, you can leave that upright in the closet. 2013 R. Rowell Fangirl (2014) xvi. 198 Regan kicked one of her shoes into her closet. b. A place (whether in the form of a cupboard or of a room) where valuables are securely kept; (in later use more usually) a repository of curiosities (in later use esp. as closet of curiosities), often intended for display. Cf. cabinet n. 3b, 1a(a). Now rare and historical.china-closet: see china adj. and n.² Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > cupboard or cabinet > [noun] > for keeping or displaying valuables cabinetc1550 closet?1553 court-cupboard1599 court-table1629 cabinet-box1663 ?1553 tr. Pope Pius II Hist. Ladye Lucres & Eurialus sig. D.iv^v Than quod Lucres there is by the bed a darke closette [L. latibulum] where bee Iuels. 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear x. 11 I haue lockt the letter in my closet . View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. ii. 130 But heere's a Parchment..I found it in his Closset, 'tis his Will. View more context for this quotation 1659 E. Ashmole Diary (1774) 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 Addr. Houses of Parl. conc. Succession 10 The late House of Commons have..seiz'd Closets and Writings without Information. 1708 J. Chamberlayne Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (ed. 22) ii. i. iii. 375 Silver coins..still preserved in the closets of the curious. 1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 153 A closet full of pieces of rock crystal. 1853 Leisure Hour 1 Sept. 571/2 There never was anything substantial about the building... What a closet full of curiosities it was once. 1999 J. T. Cliffe World Country House ii. 45 In some country houses there was a cabinet or closet of curiosities which often testified to the owner's scholarly disposition. †5. The den or lair of a wild animal. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > by habitat > habitat > [noun] > dwelling place or shelter > of a wild animal cabin1377 closet1576 harbour1576 fort1653 cell1735 1576 A. Fleming tr. J. Caius Of Eng. Dogges 11 A Tumbler...This Sort of dogges..doth soddenly gripe it [sc. the beast], at the very..mouth of their receptacles, or closets. II. figurative. A place or state of concealment. 6. a. Something which encloses or contains things as a closet may do; a hidden or secret place, a recess, a repository; a place in which to hide, or in which to conceal something, esp. a secret.Cf. Phrases 2, esp. to bring (also drag, etc.) (something) out of the closet at Phrases 2a, and skeleton in the closet at skeleton n. 1b. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > a secret place, hiding place > [noun] hidelsc975 hidela1300 bushc1330 hulkc1330 derna1340 tapissinga1340 coverta1375 hiding1382 loting-placea1398 cover14.. hiding placec1440 mewa1450 closetc1450 hole1483 cure1502 secret1530 shrouding place1571 ivy-bush1576 coney burrowa1586 hidlings1597 foxhole1606 shrouding corner1610 recess1611 subterfuge1616 latibule1623 latebra1626 blind1646 privacy1648 hide1649 retreat1697 rathole1770 hidey-hole1817 tod hole1846 hulster1880 hideout1885 cwtch1890 castle1898 lurk1906 stash1927 hideaway1930 c1450 J. Lydgate Ballade Our Lady (Sloane) l. 34 in Minor Poems (1911) i. 256 Modyr of mercy..Chambyr and closet clennest of chastyte. 1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) v. xiv. f. cx Within a lytel closet of his entendement. 1499 Contempl. Synners (de Worde) sig. Fij Of thy herte kepe ay clene the closette Where god delyteth to make his resydence. 1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 233 Went the sonne of god oute of the pryuy closet [L. cubiculo] of the maydens wombe. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 180 The knightes in the closet [sc. the Trojan Horse] comyn out swithe. 1549 J. Proctor Fal of Late Arrian sig. A.iii [Mary] Admitteth dailye into the priuey closet of her heart Gabriell, the fortitude and might of God. 1605 A. Munday tr. G. Affinati Dumbe Divine Speaker xxiii. 260 Let vs retyre into the secret closet of our harts, and desire the Lord, to send vs his sanctified Spirit. 1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia i. ii. 21 Enter..into the Closet of your Conscience. 1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 13 What Adam dreamt of when his Bride Came from her Closet in his side. 1766 Let. to Chat-em v. 22 Thus Chat-em resolved in the dark closet of his bosom. 1819 H. Busk Banquet iii. 209 Unlock the cellules, closets of the brain. 1828 C. Lamb in Blackwood's Mag. Dec. 772 She should entreasure up a secret In the peculiar closet of her breast. 1854 E. B. Eastwick tr. Anvár-i Suhailí iv. viii. 457 Anger is hidden in the closet of the heart, and resentment is concealed in the cell of the bosom. 1911 P. H. Blades Don Sagasto's Daughter xix. 323 She knew that Felicia would decline to admit even her into the innermost closet of her thought and life. 1948 Times 27 Aug. 6/4 A stroke which he plays to perfection..but which he keeps hidden away in the closet of his mind during a Test match. 1987 Artists' Newsletter Nov. 26/1 Conservation..is only emerging from the museum closet it's been hiding in for the last fifty years. 2016 Austral. Financial Rev. (Nexis) 23 Sept. 8 Albee repeatedly dared to ask what most of us retire to the closets of our minds for as long as possible: the fact of our inevitable ends. b. Chiefly in the closet. [In allusion to in the closet at Phrases 2d and out of the closet at Phrases 2c.] A state of concealment regarding one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity. ΚΠ 1970 Washington Monthly Dec. 40/2 Thousands and thousands turned out for the first big holiday from the closet. 1975 Human Behavior Aug. 16/1 Gay bars..seem to be just about everywhere, and in some cases they are going public. Maybe a new social lifestyle is happening. Or maybe the closet is only getting bigger. 1998 Prospect Mar. 21/2 For homosexuals, the closet meant driving love into an underworld of fear and squalor. 2006 S. Hough in B. Summerskill Way we are Now 213 There has been an increasing impatience with the lying and loneliness of the closet. III. Heraldry. 7. An ordinary resembling the bar (bar n.¹ 6), but of half its breadth. Cf. barrulet n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > [noun] > charge of simplest or commonest kind > bar of two horizontal lines > smaller bars gemew1486 barrulet1562 closet1562 humet1572 barret1587 bar-gemel1592 gemel1592 gemew1657 wiure1688 bandlet1850 bracelet- 1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory f. 116 He beareth Or, a clossett, Sanguine. This is the halfe of the barre aboue said. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory i. iv. 36/2 He beareth Or, five Barruletts Azure. This is also blazoned Or, five Closetts Azure. 1750 tr. B. de Montfaucon Antiq. France II. 24 Joan of Lanvin his Wife, (whose Coat of Arms was Or, three Closets Gules) died in 1480. 1847 H. Gough Gloss. Terms Brit. Heraldry 44 Bars-gemels are bars voided, or closets placed in couples. 1901 H. Wills Florentine Heraldry iii. 168 Rinaldi: Or, four closets azure surmounted of a bend gules. 1992 D. R. Mandich & J. A. Placek Russian Heraldry & Nobility 103 Gules, three closets dancettee debruised by an arrow erect argent. B. adj. (attributive). †1. Private, secluded; not intended for a wide audience. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > privacy > [adjective] sundereOE privyc1300 close1393 private1472 soleinc1475 secret1528 retired1595 implicit1610 cabinet1611 underhanda1616 closet1639 umbratile1640 closeteda1649 curtain1661 recluse1673 snug1710 pocket1804 entre nous1806 underground1820 sub rosa1824 esoterical1850 esoteric1876 1639 J. Symonds Case & Cure Deserted Soule xv. 159 If you be lesse active and serious in your retired and closet duties, then in those that are more open and publike. a1656 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. Hist. New Test. (1661) II. iv. 89 There are stage-sins, and there are closet-sins. 1657 R. Austen Spirituall Use of Orchard (new ed.) 159 The secret and closet good works of [God's] people. 1706 J. Drake in Secret Mem. Earl of Leicester Pref. That these were not written for closet memoirs appears by the stile and manner of them. 2. Secret, covert; esp. not open about something concerning oneself which, if revealed, could cause problems or embarrassment. Sometimes ironic, with allusion to sense B. 3. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] > disposed to secrecy, secretive dernOE covert1340 secrec1385 secretc1440 mum1532 closec1540 whist1577 as silent as the grave1613 privatea1625 dark1650 uncommunicating1650 dry1681 uncommunicative1691 unexpansive1847 secretive1853 tight-lipped1876 cagey1909 zip-lipped1943 closet1948 coy1961 tight1977 1948 Poetry Dec. 137 (poem title) The closet-drinker. 1953 Q. Jrnl. Stud. Alcohol 14 481 The ‘silent’ or ‘closet’ drinker..has withdrawn from social participation. 1967 Life 6 Jan. 12/3 William Buckley could quit playing devil's advocate and admit he's a closet liberal. 1985 Sunday Tel. 26 May 17/1 His defection [to Rome] is a blow because he was not a closet Papist intoxicated by bells and fancy vestments. 2005 M. Lewycka Short Hist. Tractors in Ukrainian vi. 62 ‘They were in love.’ What's this? Is Big Sis a closet romantic? 3. That is ‘in the closet’ (see Phrases 2d(a)); not open about one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity. Also: relating to or characterized by concealment or secrecy of this kind.Cf. earlier closet queen n. at Compounds 5 (originally a compound of the noun). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] dernc897 dighela1000 hid?c1225 stillc1275 stillyc1275 covertc1303 secrec1374 secret1399 secretivec1470 covered1484 dark1532 underhid1532 hiddena1547 concealed1558 abstruse1576 unshewing1598 mystical1600 of secreta1616 mystica1625 subterraneous1652 researched1653 hugger-mugger1692 hidlingsa1810 sub rosa1824 cachet1837 cloak and dagger1841 theftuous1881 q.t.1910 closet1966 down-low1991 the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > [adjective] > concealed or denied closet1966 down-low1991 1966 ‘Petronius’ N.Y. Unexpurgated vi. 96 Celebrity fags are either full, zany camps; out-and-out drags; or discreet, closet fags. 1988 Marxism Today June 27/1 It is one way that Aids is being spread: by men existing in a very closet, cottaging sort of way, not doing safe sex. 2015 S. Dawson I hate Myselfie 44 Maybe we had similar interests? Maybe they were closet homosexuals with a fat fetish? Phrases P1. Noun phrases with of. closet of ease n. now historical a toilet, a privy; = sense A. 3a. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] gongOE privy?c1225 room-housec1275 chamber foreignc1300 wardrobea1325 privy chamberc1325 foreignc1390 siegec1400 stool1410 jakes1432 house of easementa1438 kocayc1440 siege-hole1440 siege-house1440 privy house1463 withdraught1493 draught1530 shield1535 bench-hole1542 common house1542 stool1542 jakes house1547 boggard1552 house of office?1560 purging place1577 little house1579 issue1588 Ajax1596 draught-house1597 private1600 necessary house1612 vault1617 longhouse1622 latrine1623 necessary1633 commonsa1641 gingerbread officea1643 boghouse1644 cloaca1645 passage-house1646 retreat1653 shithouse1659 closet of ease1662 garderobe1680 backside1704 office1727 bog?1731 house of ease1734 cuz-john1735 easing-chair1771 backhouse1800 outhouse1819 netty1825 petty1848 seat of ease1850 closet1869 bathroom1883 crapper1927 lat1927 shouse1941 biffy1942 shitholec1947 toot1965 shitter1967 woodshed1974 1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 27 To make a Ladies Closet on the corner of a Wall where a Butteryses stood, and which was taken away for the Closet, intended only at first for a Closet of ease. 1804 E. King Munimenta Antiqua III. iii. i. 63 A small closet of ease..formed in one of the buttresses; having a narrow winding drain in the wall, that emptied itself through one of the external loops. 1885 R. F. Burton tr. Arabian Nights' Entertainm. I. v. 220 The groom fared forth from the hall and entering the closet of ease sat down on the stool. 1969 A. Davidson Phoenix & Mirror vii. 79 [He] suddenly became aware of that necessitous summons to which even kings are subject, and left the room to find a closet of ease. 2006 J. Westin Lady Katherine's Wild Ride xxvii. 300 Alain was there, ushering them about backstage to the tiring rooms, the wardrobe, the closet of ease, the stairs to the upper walkway. † closet of the heart n. Obsolete the pericardium, which encloses the heart; (also) a chamber within the heart (in quot. 1657, the left atrium or ventricle). ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > vascular system > heart > [noun] > membranes of coffer of the heart1398 pericardium?a1425 precordium?1541 closet of the heart1594 hulla1600 heart-purse1615 heart-bag1668 heart sac1828 epicardium1860 endocardium1872 1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 221 This skinne..is also called the litle closet of the heart [Fr. arche du cœur]. 1657 W. Carr tr. L. Rivière Universal Body Physick i. §6. vi. 54 When the heart dilates it selfe, it attracts the Aire from the Lungs by the help of the Arteria Venosa, and the blood from the Vena Cava, that from the commistion of them in the left closet of the heart [L. sinistro sinu], the spirits may be generated. P2. a. to bring (also drag, etc.) (something) out of the closet: to expose for public scrutiny or to public knowledge (something which has previously been concealed or kept secret); to bring out into the open.Earliest with skeleton as object (cf. skeleton in the closet at skeleton n. 1b). ΚΠ 1857 Punch 16 May 191/2 I can readily imagine two vicious old maids, keenly relishing a good ‘go-in’ at the reputation or circumstances of their friends. I can conceive their bitter pleasure in..routing out some grim skeleton from its closet in the house of a common acquaintance. 1892 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 1 Mar. 6/1 Seeing the spectre of prohibition dragged out of the closet in every political campaign. 1934 Liberty 11 Aug. 27/1 I wasn't sure if I'd better drag the subject out of the closet and rattle the bones. 1954 Waukesha (Wisconsin) Daily Freeman 11 Mar. 3/6 His object..is to take the subject ‘out of the closet’ as society has done with tuberculosis, mental diseases patients and the communicable diseases. 1977 Times of India 18 Mar. 8/4 Chronic failure to meet plan targets and facts of general mismanagement, corruption and inefficiency have been brought out of the closet and tabled in the central committee's own political report. 2005 Independent 5 Dec. 32/6 The answer to the heinous problem of sexual slavery is to bring prostitution out of the closet and allow proper licensed zones for it. b. colloquial (originally U.S.). to come out of the closet. (a) To cease to conceal or deny one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity. Cf. to come out 13b at come v. Phrasal verbs 1. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > [verb (intransitive)] > acknowledge or declare openly one's sexual orientation to come out of the closet1968 to come out1970 1968 Berkeley Barb 15 Mar. 12/1 Come out of the closet long enuf to attend the East Bay Gay Discussion Group Fridays. 1971 N.Y. Times Mag. 17 Jan. 9/4 It took me almost 50 years to come out of the closet, to stop pretending to be something I was not. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die xli. 453 She was coming out of the closet and without words she was telling the world of her bisexuality. 2010 Hoosier Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 25 Apr. (Herald-Times ed.) (Parade section) 14/1 After more than a decade of keeping his sexual preference under wraps, he's recently come out of the closet. (b) More generally: to cease to conceal something which, if revealed, could cause problems or embarrassment; to admit something openly. Also with the problematic issue as the subject. Frequently ironic. Cf. to come out 13c at Phrasal verbs 1. ΘΚΠ society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > disclose or make revelations [verb (intransitive)] cough1393 wrayc1425 to break a secreta1450 to tell allc1450 to bring (also put) to light1526 to let on1725 to open up1884 to come out of the closet1971 to come out1976 1971 San Antonio (Texas) Light 8 Aug. (S. Texas Today section) 22/4 Now I think he's gonna come out of the closet and use his real name. 1994 Denver Post 18 Sept. e5/1 Population growth is coming out of the closet as the major political issue of the decade. 2012 J. M. Hobson Eurocentric Conception of World Politics xiii. 344 Some Eurocentrics might wish to ‘come out of the closet’ and openly defend or even celebrate their Eurocentrism. c. colloquial (originally U.S.). out of the closet. (a) Not seeking to conceal or deny one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > [adverb] > openly acknowledging one's sexual orientation out of the closet1965 out1974 1965 Transvestia (Los Angeles) No. 36. 86 Give the ‘guy’ his due and don't forget him in the struggle to let ‘her’ out of the closet. 1970 Atlantic July 72/1 There are as many homosexuals per capita in Gloucester as anywhere else in the world, I suppose, but they are mostly in closets. This guy was long out of the closet. 2016 Internat. N.Y. Times (Nexis) 15 June 9 Despite the celebration of gay liberation, many gay men were not out of the closet. (b) More generally: not seeking to conceal something which, if revealed, could cause problems or embarrassment; open about a potentially problematic issue. Sometimes ironic. ΚΠ 1983 Associated Press (Nexis) 16 July The Invisible Empire, one of several Klan groups, already is out of the closet to some extent. 2001 A. Dangor Bitter Fruit (2004) xxi. 238 I am just a middle-aged, white moffie, newly out of the closet, exposed for what I am in the greying of my life. 2011 Associated Press State & Local Wire (Nexis) 19 Apr. Vice President Joe Biden says Republicans are ‘out of the closet’ about their approach to dealing with the nation's federal budget woes. d. colloquial (originally U.S.). in the closet. (a) Not open about one's homosexuality or any other aspect of one’s sexual or gender identity. Also with the identity as the subject. Cf. sense B. 3. ΚΠ 1968 M. Crowley Boys in Band iv. 120 Do you know what it means to be ‘in the closet’. 1978 J. Gores Gone, no Forwarding (1979) xiii. 79 Simson was much straighter-looking..than when his sexual preference had still been in the closet. 2006 Advocate 17 Jan. 74/1 One of my closest gay friends was a Tony-winning actor... He was also in the closet, terrified of being exposed. (b) More generally: not open about something which, if revealed, could cause problems or embarrassment. Sometimes ironic. ΚΠ 1977 N.Y. Times 13 June 63/3 Nobody's in the closet about nudism anymore. 1992 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. a9/4 We are the last group in the closet in all of America... We have to stand up unashamedly every day and say we are black Republicans. 2016 Guardian (Nexis) 2 May I know a lot of long-distance runners that are in the closet about their cannabis use. Compounds C1. General attributive, as closet door, closet shelf, etc. ΚΠ a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 684 Here in þis closet dore with-oute..youre wommen lyggen alle. 1631 T. Heywood Fair Maid of West: 1st Pt. iv. 42 Fetch me that parchment in my Closet window. 1685 London Gaz. No. 2068/4 One Closet Candlestick, with Snuffers and Extinguisher. 1778 T. B. Attwood Let. 8 Aug. in E. Mascall Remnants of Life (1902) 221 The closet doors burst at the hinges. 1893 Good Housek. Sept. 130/1 She doesn't take any pleasure in her pretty things if they have to be kept in the lid of a trunk or a bandbox on the closet shelf. 1926 G. Hunting Vicarion iv. 63 He..closed the closet door which stood ajar. 1937 Amer. Home Apr. 124/1 (advt.) These cleverly designed fixtures will give you that closet space you desire. 2000 K. Reichs Deadly Décisions xxiii. 192 I dug around on my closet floor, located my Top-Siders, and broke a nail yanking them on. C2. attributive. Denoting prayer, religious contemplation, etc., which is conducted privately rather than publicly. Cf. sense A. 1a.Cf. Matthew 6:6: ‘When thou prayest, enter into thy closet’ (King James Bible).In some instances approaching the status of an adjective: cf. sense B. 1. ΚΠ 1608 T. Cooper Christians Daily Sacrifice 171 Bewaile wee seriously our neglect of closet prayer. 1701 E. Saunders Domestick Charge iii. 71 That he set or teach them, some short Prayers for their secret and Closet Devotion. 1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks III. Misc. v. iii. 328 [Bp. J. Taylor's Treatises] are in use..as well for Church-Service as Closet-Preparation. 1796 J. Cole Mem. Hannah Ball 38 I am strongly tempted to contract the profitable exercise of closet devotion. 1843 Gen. Baptist Repository Dec. 354 Every one who has attained to eminence in the ways of religion, has obtained his strength and consolation, his joy and hope, mainly though the medium of closet devotion. a1859 J. W. Alexander Thoughts on Preaching (1861) ii. 81 Of all people on earth, ministers most need the constant impressions derived from closet piety. 1919 C. E. Russell After Whirlwind 193 He [sc. Jesus] was not giving a precept for closet observance but a maxim sound for all men, at all times, for all uses. 1992 E. Christenson What happens when Women Pray viii. 92 We can often recognize..those who have spent time in private closet prayer and the others who have come perhaps to do the only praying that they have done all week. C3. attributive. a. With the sense ‘of, relating to, involving, or arising from private study or speculative thought’ (cf. sense A. 1c). Sometimes also with the sense ‘theoretical or abstract rather than practical’.In some instances approaching the status of an adjective: cf. sense B. 1. ΚΠ 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 205 They call this bed-worke, mappry, Closet warre. 1698 Remarks Wrong Computations & Concl. 40 This Gentleman, whose Closet-Speculations (upon these Branches) have not been enlightened and assisted by Practice and Experience. 1733 Pract. Husbandman & Planter I. Introd. p. xxii As learned a Closet Philosopher as any has appear'd in this Hemisphere for many Years. [Note] Dr. Woodward, in his Essay on Vegetation. 1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 25 Mar. in Lett. to Son (1774) I. 272 The laboured reflections of a systematical closet politician, who, without the least experience of business, sits at home and writes maxims. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia I. i. ii. 20 The closet reasoner. 1815 T. Jefferson Let. 14 Feb. in Writings (1984) 1361 Closet politicians merely, unpractised in the knowledge of man. 1818 B. O'Reilly Greenland 243 Sailing to the north pole has been long a very favourite subject for closet lucubration. 1827 Examiner 18 Nov. 726/1 Like most closet students..he appears to have imbibed a terrible apprehension of popular power. a1847 T. Chalmers in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1851) I. 476 Nature takes her own way, unmindful of the closet speculations of theory. 1851 F. Palgrave Hist. Normandy & Eng. I. 61 None of the Desk and Closet-helps for philological study. 1910 T. Roosevelt Afr. & European Addr. 53 The closet philosopher, the refined and cultured individual who from his library tells how men ought to be governed under ideal conditions, is of no use in actual governmental work. 1935 Q. Rev. Mich. Alumnus Summer 494/1 The dramatic record of medical science and applied medicine, in their struggles..against closet theorizing. 1988 Bentham Newslet. June 12 The censor depicted by Helvetius was no closet philosopher: he was a builder of states and an advisor of great leaders. b. With the sense ‘of or relating to the writing of plays intended to be read rather than performed; (also) designating such a play’, as closet drama, closet play, etc. ΚΠ 1813 La Belle Assemblée Jan. 368/1 No tricks, no rant, no fighting, not even a solitary song! it will be called a mere closet play, quite a hum drum. 1822 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 448/1 There exists no living dramatic genius, as yet displayed, notwithstanding the late publication of many exquisite closet-dramas. 1833 Court Mag. Dec. 230/1 Professor Silliman..wrote closet tragedies and lackadaisical sonnets ‘to his mistress' eyebrow’. 1872 Scribner's Monthly Aug. 510/2 The second book [by Mr. Longfellow] is a closet drama, entitled ‘Judas Maccabaeus’. 1898 Sewanee Rev. 6 14 Closet-dramatists like Lycophron, study poets like Apollonius Rhodius, are the typical products of the day. 1907 N. Amer. Rev. 16 Aug. 880 He seems to sense his themes as narrative, instead of drama; and he writes in closet-verse, instead of theatre-verse. 1991 Tulsa Stud. Women's Lit. 10 233 Cary's transformation of the genre of closet drama..demonstrates that Mariam is more than slavish imitation. 2013 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 6 June 40 Why has this extraordinary play never been performed by a major professional theatre company, and does it really deserve to be labelled a ‘closet’ play? †C4. attributive. With the sense ‘of or relating to the private apartment or council chamber of a monarch, etc.’. Cf. sense A. 1b. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης xxiv. 195 Reasons, why he should rather pray by the officiating mouth of a Closet-Chaplain. 1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης xxiv. 193 They knew the King..to have suckt from them and thir Closetwork all his impotent Principles of Tyrannie and Superstition. C5. closet case n. slang (originally U.S.) (a) an unattractive or embarrassing person, a social outcast; (b) a person who seeks conceals or denies his or her sexuality, gender identity, etc. (cf. sense B. 3). ΚΠ 1946 Washington Post 7 Oct. 5/2 Unattractive girls are ‘strictly closet cases’, meaning they should be in the closet when men are around. 1965 Transvestia (Los Angeles) No. 34. 14 I do not feel that it is essential to chase around dressed all over the countryside just in order to be an FP [i.e. femmiphile]. Nor do I feel we must permanently be closet cases. 1966 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily Northwestern 24 Sept. 22/2 Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater is being treated by Republicans as a campaign closet case this time around. 1969 S. Harris Puritan Jungle x. 191 They're what we call ‘closet cases’, hiding and scared to death of exposure. 2003 Out Feb. 14/1 Out 's getting less willing to shower accolades on closet cases who emerge seconds before tabloids push them out. closet chapel n. a closet used for private devotion; a private or small chapel. ΚΠ 1523 Inventory in State Papers Henry VIII (P.R.O.: SP 1/27) f. 254 In the clausett chapell Furst a table of the salutacoun of our lady. a1626 I. Jones in J. Lees-Milne Age Inigo Jones (1953) iv. 82 Chimneypiece in her Majesty's closet chapel at St. Jameses. 1647 T. Fuller Good Thoughts in Worse Times iv. iii. 138 What? Severall Closset-Chappells, for those of the same Bed and Board? 1993 J. P. McNamee Diary City Priest i. 13 Finishing my hospital run, I leave the Sister and enter the dark closet-chapel. 2015 L. A. Forster-Smith Crossing Thresholds v. 51 That night I also entered another sanctum, not unlike my previous college's little closet chapel. † closet-draught n. Obsolete rare a drawing or likeness of sufficiently high quality to be kept in a closet (sense A. 4b).In quot. figurative. ΚΠ 1691 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. 339 If God is to be Praised for the Beauty of the Rain-bow..how much more is he to be adored for these great Master-pieces of his Art [sc. Angels], these Closet-Draughts of his Beauty. closet-keeper n. now historical a person charged with keeping or maintaining the contents (esp. valuable items) of a closet (chiefly in sense A. 4). ΚΠ 1624 E. Forset Def. Right of Kings 12 Now it is meete we look into the maine and substantiall point of doctrine, which (as if hee were closset-keeper to the Pope) hee confidently deliuereth to be Catholike and Orthodoxall. 1666 S. Pepys Diary 8 Apr. (1972) VII. 94 Tom Cheffins..the King's closet-keeper. 1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting II. iii. 116 The office of closet-keeper to the King. 1896 Daily News 15 June 8/2 He saw the King's closet-keeper carry out the King's papers to the camp. 1948 F. C. Turner James II i. xiii. 227 William Chiffinch had succeeded his father Thomas Chiffinch in 1666 as closet-keeper to Charles II. 2013 Simiolus 37 59/1 The collection of a Mr Simonis, closet-keeper to Archduke Leopold in Brussels. closet organizer n. a storage system, usually installed in a closet, for keeping clothing and other items organized. ΚΠ 1951 Fitchburg (Mass.) Sentinel 15 Nov. (advt.) Rust-proof skirt racks. Wonderful closet organizer! 5 tier, holds up to 10 skirts neatly. 1993 Tel. & Gaz. (Worcester, Mass.) 25 July g1 Closet organizers..make college life easier while they add to dorm decor. 2013 I. Smyles Iris has Free Time 338 The closet organizer that's going to revolutionize the way you store your clothes needs first to be put together. † closet picture n. Obsolete a picture of a type suitable to be kept in a private chamber or cabinet (see cabinet n. and adj. Compounds 1).In quot. a1894 apparently figurative, although the literal use appears to be already rare by this date. ΚΠ 1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (i. 16) 294 So the worldling heares us preach of Christ, his precious merits, grievous passion, gracious redemption, glorious reward; but still his Closset-picture he thinkes better of than all these. 1721 London Gaz. No. 6003/3 Great choice of the finest Closet Pictures. 1780 W. Beckford Biogr. Mem. Painters 11 It is incredible what elegant closet pictures he lavished upon this haughty beauty. a1894 R. L. Stevenson Amateur Emigrant (1895) 21 This [description] is the closet picture, and is found, on trial, to consist mostly of embellishments. closet queen n. slang a homosexual man who conceals or denies his sexuality; cf. sense B. 3.Suggested currency in graffiti dating from 1959 (see J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1994) I. 438/1) has not been verified. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male > who conceals or denies sexuality closet queen1963 1963 L. Jones Moderns 299 He and later his friend (the music teacher) Freddy. A ‘closet queen’. 1977 C. A. B. Warren & B. Ponse in J. D. Douglas & J. M. Johnson Existential Sociol. 304 A closet queen for the overt community is one who will not admit gayness to straight audiences; for the secret community, it refers to one who will not affiliate with the gay community for fear of stigmatization. 1984 Mail on Sunday 2 Dec. (Colour Suppl.) 28/2 His colleagues' retort is that Jimmy is a closet queen because he doesn't live with a woman. 2002 J. James Andrew & Joey 36 He's the quietest little man in the world... I think he's actually a closet queen. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022). closetv. Brit. /ˈklɒzɪt/, U.S. /ˈklɑzət/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: closet n. Etymology: < closet n. 1. To shut up, shut away, or confine in or as in a closet (sense 1). a. (a) transitive. In active use. Frequently reflexive. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclose [verb (transitive)] > with others in a private chamber closet1583 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. P.iii^v But waiting for a time of reuenge saide litle, onely closetting her selfe in her bed-chamber, vexed her mind & body with x. thowsand cares. 1665 J. Crowne Pandion & Amphigenia ii. 282 These resolves he closetted in his thoughts. 1692 T. Taylor tr. G. Daniel Voy. World Cartesius ii. 110 He began to put his Project in Execution, in a certain Place in Germany..where closeting himself whole Days together in his Stove, he recollected in his Mind [etc.]. 1807 W. Austin Ess. Human Char. Jesus Christ 34 Cato..closeted himself at Athens, and scarcely professed himself a public character. 1856 Circular (Oneida, N.Y.) 8 May 63/1 She gradually withdrew from all society, and closeted herself for the most part of the time. 1904 Appomattox & Buckingham Times 4 May Gather them out of this primitive school house, closet them in the Colonial Congress in Philadelphia to fashion out of their own minds, their own destinies and that of their own nation. 1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Apr. 260/2 Ray, the saintly hermit who has closeted himself in the attic of the old house full of junk. 2000 J. London Ruthless Charmer xiii. 157 He had closeted himself in his study all day. (b) transitive. In passive. Esp. in to be closeted with (also together). Often with the implication of private or secret discussion or negotiation (cf. sense 3). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > be enclosed [verb (intransitive)] > with others in a private chamber to be closeted with (also together)1641 to shut upa1684 1641 T. Heywood Life of Merlin ix. 72 Poysoning the Royall Nest in which he lay. Meaning the Kings Treason in which the Traitor was closeted. a1655 E. Wood Γνωστόν τοῦ Θεοῦ (1656) 155 Before Christs time Gods words being confined & closetted within the Church of the Jewes, no wonder that the Gentiles without the pale became vaine in their imaginations. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones VI. xviii. v. 200 No Wonder they have been closetted so close lately. View more context for this quotation 1778 Earl of Malmesbury Let. 2 Oct. in Diaries & Corr. (1844) I. 210 He has been already closetted, more than once, with the Empress. 1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iii. 49 Very like men indeed—And with her closeted for hours! 1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate III. iii. 82 Captain Aylmer and Miss Amedroz were to be closeted together in the little back drawing-room. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 5 Sept. 1/1 The Austrian Minister was recently closeted with the German Chancellor. 1913 Times 3 Sept. 6/4 All the officers concerned in the inquiries were closeted at Bow-street Police Station until nearly 1 o'clock this morning. 1925 V. Woolf Mrs. Dalloway 178 There was Elizabeth closeted all this time with Doris Kilman. 1938 Fortune Sept. 100/1 Over at the Lord & Thomas advertising agency Jimmy Parks..was closeted with a script writer and an account executive. 1979 J. Rathbone Joseph i. v. 55 He was closeted with my father upstairs for half a day. 2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 8 June i. 14/2 Instead of billeting in their old headquarters at the Canal Hotel, they were closeted behind American military guards at the al-Rashid Hotel. b. transitive. With up. Later also with away. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclosing or confining > enclose or confine [verb (transitive)] pena1200 bebar?c1225 loukc1275 beshuta1300 parc1300 to shut in1398 to close inc1400 parrockc1400 pinc1400 steekc1400 lock?a1425 includec1425 key?a1439 spare?c1450 enferme1481 terminea1500 bebay1511 imprisona1533 besetc1534 hema1552 ram1567 warda1586 closet1589 pound1589 seclude1598 confine1600 i-pend1600 uptie1600 pinfold1605 boundify1606 incoop1608 to round in1609 ring1613 to buckle ina1616 embounda1616 swathe1624 hain1636 coopa1660 to sheathe up1661 stivea1722 cloister1723 span1844 1589 J. Throckmorton M. Some laid Open in his Coulers To Rdr. I resolued..not to closet it [sc. a book] vp any longer. 1595 T. Edwards Narcissus in Cephalus & Procris (1882) 54 Oh why doth Neptune closet vp my deere? 1633 G. Herbert Decay in Temple iv The heat Of thy great love once spread, as in an urn Doth closet up it self. 1688 tr. I. Claude Count d'Soissons 141 In he went and Closetted himself up in Elbœuf Hall, ordering that if any one came to see him to say that he was in the Country. 1730 E. Wright Some Observ. France, Italy, &c. II. 453 This famous Picture is closeted up, and when shewn, is brought forth with great Solemnity. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. x. 91 After they had been closetted up with the fortune-teller for some time. 1867 New Englander Oct. 716 He seems to have kept his religious feelings closeted up, unless by describing them he could do good to others. 1876 Life & Adventures Gen. Ryan 18 She was indoors, closeted away from ‘them noisy boys.’ 1914 Internat. Stereotypers & Electrotypers Union Jrnl. Aug. 15/1 We all know that being closeted up every night for two weeks is not a very pleasant vocation. 1984 A. Oakley Taking it like Woman (1985) 93 The little girl looks at her mother with such tired, trusting eyes. Her fever last night has closeted the two of them up together today. 1995 E. Toman Dancing in Limbo i. 23 You'd think he'd be out and about, making a name for himself, instead of closeted away. 2015 N.Y. Times Blogs (Nexis) 17 Mar. Because he is closeting up his doubts and fears, his subsequent eruptions into madness..have a harrowing logic. †2. transitive. To conspire or scheme in secret to do something. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > intention > planning > plotting > plot (a purpose) or hatch (a plot [verb (transitive)] > plan by conspiring conjure1477 confederate1555 complot1597 contract1618 closeta1649 compact1667 conjurate- a1649 W. Yonge Diary (1848) 78 He coming out of Spain, they having closeted to detain him. 3. transitive. To engage in private or secret discussion with (a person), esp. with a view to influencing or persuading him or her. Chiefly with reference to the tactical use of such private discussions in British politics in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Now historical. ΚΠ 1687 T. Tramallier Let. 27 Oct. in J. R. Bloxham Magdalen Coll. & James II (1886) 166 Being lett in again, after they had closeted the D^r. for about an hour, the sentence of the Ecclesiastical Court was read thrice by the Bishop. 1689 Let. conc. Brit. Monarchy 7 This late Prince..Closetted many Persons of Honour and Quality,..courting some by fair Promises, and menacing others to the loss of their Offices, if they did not [etc.]. 1730 Let. from Gentleman in North 24 The first Parliaments of James II. were said to be universally corrupted by the Court, and yet notwithstanding their being closeted Man by Man, they refused to repeal the Test and Penal Laws. 1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random II. lv. 210 She closeted her,..and..gave her to know that she had seen me. 1773 J. Adams Diary (1961) 4 Mar. III. 77 He is closetting and soliciting Mr. Bowdoin, Mr. Dennie, Dr. Church &c. &c., and seems in the utmost Agony. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 217 The king asserted that some of the Churchmen whom he had closeted had offered to make large concessions to the Catholics, on condition that the persecution of the Puritans might go on. 1970 R. Sedgwick House of Commons I. 55 Before capitulating, George II made every effort to save Granville, by ‘closeting’ his opponents separately. 1987 E. Cruickshanks in C. Jones Brit. in First Age of Party 23 When closeted by the King or asked by his agents to assent to the repeal of the Test Act and penal laws, the great majority of the Tory nobility and gentry either absented themselves or gave negative replies. 4. transitive. Chiefly U.S. To place or store (clothing, etc.) in a closet (sense 4). ΚΠ 1883 P. M'Neill Tranent xii. 170 The birds were ‘closeted’, that is, confined in a dark room, closet or big deal-box made for the purpose. 1929 Evening Republican (Mitchell, S. Dakota) 29 Apr. 2/6 (advt.) Any little needed repairs will be made by our expert tailors... Send them [sc. coats] now—before you closet them for the summer. 1952 Northwest Arkansas Times 1 Dec. 20/8 Everyone gets a front row seat when collapsible canvas television chairs are kept handy... Just fold, and closet them when guests leave. 2005 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 13 Feb. viii. 17/1 Send your clothes back..when you're finished with them, and they'll be cleaned and closeted until you request them again. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.adj.a1387v.1583
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closetn.adj.

Phrases

Compounds

closetv.