desk Look up desk at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., from M.L. desca "table to write on" (c.1250), from L. discus "quoit, platter, dish," from Gk. diskos. The M.L. is perhaps via It. desco. Used figuratively of office or clerical work since 1797; desk job is first attested 1965. Desk-top (adj.) is from 1958; desk-top publishing first recorded 1984.