office
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Anglo-Norman office, offis etc., and Old French office, from Latin officium (“task, business, duty, official duty, office, court”), probably contr. from opificium (“the doing of a work, a working”), from opifex (“one who does a work”), from opus (“work”) + facere (“to do”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
office (plural offices)
- A building or room where clerical or professional duties are performed.
- A bureau, an administrative unit of government.
- A position of responsibility of some authority within an organisation.
- rite, ceremonial observance of social or religious nature
- religious service, especially a liturgy officiated by a Christian priest or minister
- major administrative division, notably in certain governmental administrations, either at ministry level (e.g. the British Home Office) or within or dependent on such a department
- (obsolete) a task that one feels obliged to do
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Modern Library Edition (1995), page 144
- ...there I readily engaged in the office of pointing out to my friend the certain evils of such a choice.
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Modern Library Edition (1995), page 144
- (in plural) The parts of a house given over to household work, storage etc.
- 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, III:
- A short passage, bare planked and dusty, led to the kitchen and offices.
- 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, III:
[edit] Derived terms
- office boy
- office mate
- post office
- box office
- ticket office
- paperless office
- home office
- doctor's office
- in office
- out of office
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
building or room
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administrative unit
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position of responsibility
good office
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
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[edit] References
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
- office in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
[edit] Statistics
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Most common English words before 1923: opinion · according · walked · #592: office · government · particular · charge
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] French
[edit] Etymology
Borrowed from Latin officium.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
office m. (plural offices)
- charge, task, mandate
- administrative bureau, department
- religious service, notably liturgical office
- place where a household's table (food and drink)-related services are conducted, especially by domestic staff
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] References
- Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Latin
[edit] Verb
office
- second-person singular present active imperative of officiō
