A cabinet is a piece of furniture that contains shelves, drawers or other compartments for storing or displaying objects. It often incorporates a top that is either purely decorative (a wall hung cabinet) or serves as a work surface, such as in a kitchen cabinet. The term may also refer to a cabinet of curios, or to an enclosure for displaying a collection of such objects.
The Cabinet in government is the body of ministers, or secretaries of state, that constitute a head of state’s executive council or board. In parliamentary systems, such as the United Kingdom, the cabinet is collectively responsible for all policy decisions, even though each member of the Cabinet has their own portfolio of responsibilities and can hold private reservations about certain policies. In presidential systems, such as the United States, the President delegates much of the work to the heads of executive departments, who are members of his or her Cabinet. The president usually chooses these members from his or her own political party, although it is legal for the president to select an opposition party member. The legislature or a segment of it must normally confirm the appointment, and it is possible for the legislature to remove a member through an impeachment process.
A cabinet may also be used to refer to a piece of woodwork that is crafted by a professional cabinet maker. The popularity of the Arts and Crafts movement in the mid-to-late 19th century spurred a resurgence in traditional cabinet making, which is now primarily a hobby for some people and a craft for others.