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

• safe
• safe-deposit box
• 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

According to them, a chunk of that settlement, all of which was intended to be returned to state and federal coffers, was sent to the Hope Florida Foundation and eventually ended up in the hands of political groups that campaigned against the ballot measure, which Gov. DeSantis was also opposed to. —Julia Manchester, The Hill, 23 Apr. 2025

Earlier this month, the Herald/Times reported that the DeSantis administration steered $10 million from a $67 million Medicaid settlement to the foundation, and away from state coffers. —Alexandra Glorioso, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2025

Verb

Listen to this article The Trump administration is trying to claw back more than $106 million in migrant funds from New York City coffers — bringing the total the feds have attempted to recover to nearly $188 million. —Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2025

Other pandemic dollars landed in county coffers with few limitations on how they were spent. —Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 17 Mar. 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