coffer

1 of 2

noun

cof·​fer ˈkȯ-fər 

ˈkä-

1

: chest

Among the items at the auction was an 18th-century oak coffer.

especially : strongbox

put the money in the coffer

2

: treasury, funds

—usually used in plural

… public coffers running dry in a bleak economy …

—Vivienne Walt and Roya Wolverson

corporate coffers

3

: a recessed panel in a vault, ceiling, or soffit

ceiling coffers

coffer

2 of 2

verb

coffered; coffering; coffers

transitive verb

1

: to store or hoard up in a coffer

coffered his military memorabilia

2

: to form (something, such as a ceiling) with recessed panels

A ceiling that is coffered will bring an added dimension to a large room.

Synonyms

Noun

• vault
• strongbox

Examples of coffer in a Sentence

Noun

kept the jewels in a locked coffer

let me see what's in the household coffers and I'll get back to you about making a donation

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The basic premise is that college alumni can have a say in what athletes their school signs by donating to their school’s coffers or contributing directly to the athlete’s NIL fund. —Vitas Carosella, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025

Villa ended the most recent quarter with roughly $12,000 in her campaign committee’s coffers, and this month alone has received more than $100,000 to her committee, according to records from the State Board of Elections. —Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025

Verb

Miami-Dade also no longer benefits from hundreds of millions in dollars of federal COVID and stimulus dollars that flowed into county coffers during the pandemic. —Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 7 Aug. 2025

Mamdani has focused his campaign on populist messaging, emphasized door-to-door ground outreach and built up his campaign coffers with small dollar donations. —Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 12 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English cofre, coffre, borrowed from Anglo-French, altered (with n to r) from Latin cophinus "large basket, hamper" (sense "chest" attested in early Medieval Latin), borrowed from Greek kóphinos "large basket" — more at coffin entry 1

Verb

Middle English cofren, derivative of cofre coffer entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for coffer

• offer
• proffer
• scoffer
• counteroffer

Kids Definition

coffer

noun

cof·​fer

ˈkȯ-fər,

ˈkäf-ər

1

: a box used especially to store money and valuables

2

: treasury sense 1, funds

—usually used in plural