bureau de change
- noun
- /ˈbjʊəroʊ də ʃɑːnʒ/
- UK
:
oficina de cambio
- We stopped at the airport bureau de change to get some euros before heading into the city.
Examples
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The rates at this bureau de change are better than at most banks.
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Many hotels have a bureau de change in the lobby for guests' convenience.
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I need to find a bureau de change nearby.
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The bureau de change at the airport is usually busy.
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You can convert your dollars to euros at the bureau de change near the train station.
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I went to the bureau de change to exchange my currency before traveling abroad.
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The bureau de change offered a better rate than my bank for exchanging foreign money.
Synonyms
1
3.9
A person or business that gives you one country's money for another country's money
1
6.4
A person or business that changes money from one country into another
How Trustworthy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an office where foreign currencies are exchanged' is directly derivable from the parts: 'bureau' (office) + 'de' (of) + 'change' (to exchange), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer 'office of exchange'. Although this is a French loanphrase, the compositional logic is transparent and mirrors equivalents in many languages (e.g., casa de cambio), making it accessible to B1 learners who know the words.
Etymology
Bureau de change comes from French: bureau means 'desk' or 'office' and change means 'money exchange'. Imagine a small desk where travellers hand over one country's money and get another, so the phrase means 'a place to exchange foreign money'.