bureau

First we had theocracy, “rule by God”, then aristocracy, “rule by the best”, and then democracy, “rule by the people”. And now we have bureaucracy, “rule by woolly cloth”. “Hmm, yes,” I hear you say. “Sounds about right.” In medieval France, desks were covered with a coarse woollen cloth called burel. The covering came to refer to the desk itself, and then the room which contained the desk. From there it was downhill all the way to rule by government department.