Meaning

noun a piece of furniture resembling a cupboard with doors and shelves and drawers; for storage or display

noun persons appointed by a head of state to head executive departments of government and act as official advisers

noun a storage compartment for clothes and valuables; usually it has a lock

originFrom cabin + -et, influenced by French cabinet. In sense of “a government group”, compare salon, also named for a room used to gather.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0