Coiffeuse

Coiffeuse is a French noun with two primary meanings. It can refer to a female hairdresser or hairstylist—someone who cuts, colors, and styles hair and provides grooming services. It can also denote a vanity or dressing table, a piece of bedroom furniture with a mirror, drawers, and a work surface used for grooming, applying cosmetics, and arranging hair. In French, the masculine form coiffeur is used for the male hairdresser, while coiffeuse is the feminine form; the furniture sense is a feminine-named object in its own right.

Etymology and usage: The word derives from the verb coiffer, meaning to comb or arrange hair, with the agentive suffix -euse. As a profession, coiffeuse is common in French-speaking regions; a hair salon is often described as a salon de coiffure and employs coiffeuses. The furniture sense is widely used in interior design and everyday language to describe a dressing table, typically found in bedrooms or dressing rooms.

Historical and cultural context: Dressing tables labeled as coiffeuses gained prominence in European aristocratic and bourgeois interiors from the 17th through 19th centuries, frequently featuring mirrors, drawers, and decorative detailing. The professional sense has contemporary relevance in cosmetology and beauty services, with formal training programs in France and other countries for hairdressers and colorists.

See also: coiffeur; salon de coiffure; dressing table; vanity.