A small decorative piece of furniture designed to fit in a corner, often used to display objects or store items.
From French 'encoignure,' from 'en-' (in) + 'coign' (corner, from Old French 'coign,' from Latin 'cuneus' meaning wedge). It entered English in the 17th century.
This fancy French furniture word shows how English borrowed vocabulary for luxury items—you probably never noticed these corner cabinets in antique shops, but they're everywhere in period homes!
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