officer

See also: Officer

English

A group of customs officers

Etymology

From Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Old French officer, Late Latin officiarius (“official”), from Latin officium (“office”) + -ārius (“-er”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒfɪsə/
  • (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɒfəsə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔfɪsɚ/
  • (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɔfəsɚ/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɑfɪsɚ/
  • (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑfəsɚ/
• (dialectal, informal) IPA^(key): /ˈɒfsə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: of‧fi‧cer

Noun

officer (plural officers)

2. One who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police or government organizations.
3. A respectful term of address for an officer, especially a police officer.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.

5. One who holds a public office.
7. An agent or servant imparted with the ability, to some degree, to act on initiative.
9. (colloquial, military) A commissioned officer.

Derived terms

• accountable disbursing officer
• accountable officer
• brother-officer
• bylaw officer
• careers officer
• case officer
• chief executive officer
• chief financial officer
• chief information officer
• chief legal officer
• chief operating officer
• chief petty officer
• chief petty officer first class
• chief petty officer second class
• civil enforcement officer
• commanding officer
• commissioned officer
• community police officer
• correctional officer
• correction officer
• corrections officer
• customs officer
• detention officer
• dog officer
• duty officer
• executive officer
• field officer
• first officer
• flag officer
• flying officer
• general officer
• grounds officer
• guest relation officer
• honorary officer
• house officer
• judicial officer
• line officer
• master chief petty officer
• naval officer
• non-commissioned officer
• noncommissioned officer
• officer-involved
• officer-involved shooting
• officer cadet
• officer down
• officerless
• officerly
• officer of the court
• officer of the peace
• outdoor officer
• parole officer
• patrol officer
• peace officer
• penal officer
• petty officer
• petty officer first class
• petty officer second class
• petty officer third class
• pilot officer
• police officer
• press officer
• prison officer
• probation officer
• public officer
• radio officer
• relieving officer
• resource officer
• returning officer
• riding officer
• riot police officer
• school resource officer
• second officer
• security officer
• senior chief petty officer
• sheriff officer
• staff officer
• third officer
• truant officer
• warrant officer
• warrant officer 2
• warrant officer class 1
• warrant officer class 2

 

Related terms

• office
• official
• officiate

Descendants

• → Central Dusun: upisor
• → Punjabi: ਅਫ਼ਸਰ (afasar)
• → Swahili: afisa

Translations

one who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization

• Afrikaans: offisier
• Albanian: oficer (sq) m
• Arabic: مَأْمُور‎ (ar) m (maʔmūr)
• Armenian: պաշտոնյա (hy) (paštonya), աստիճանավոր (hy) (astičanavor)
• Belarusian: чыно́ўнік m (čynóŭnik), чыно́ўніца f (čynóŭnica)
• Bulgarian: длъ́жностно лице́ n (dlǎ́žnostno licé), чино́вник (bg) m (činóvnik), чино́вница f (činóvnica), чино́вничка f (činóvnička)
• Cherokee: ᎠᏍᎦᏰᎬᏍᏓ (asgayegvsda)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 官員／官员 (zh) (guānyuán), 官吏 (zh) (guānlì)

• Choctaw: afisa
• Coptic: ϩⲩⲡⲏⲣⲉⲧⲏⲥ (hupēretēs)
• Czech: funkcionář (cs) m, funkcionářka (cs) f
• Esperanto: oficiro
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: upseeri (fi)
• French: fonctionnaire (fr) m, officier (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Funktionär (de) m, Funktionärin (de) f
• Greek: αξιωματικός (el) m (axiomatikós)
• Hebrew: פָּקִיד‎ (he) m (pakíd)
• Hindi: अफ़सर m (afsar), अफसर (hi) (aphsar), सरकार (hi) f (sarkār)
• Hungarian: tiszt (hu), katonatiszt (hu), rendőr (hu), rendőrtiszt
• Italian: funzionario (it) m
• Japanese: 役員 (ja) (やくいん, yakuin)
• Korean: 역원(役員) (ko) (yeogwon)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ئەفسەر‎ (ckb) (efser)

• Latin: praefectus m
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: pareigūnas m
• Macedonian: чиновник m (činovnik), чиновничка f (činovnička)
• Malay: pegawai
• Manx: fer oik m
• Maori: āpiha
• Navajo: siláo binantʼaʼí
• Ojibwe: zhimaaganishii-ogimaa (military)
• Persian: اَفسَر‎ (fa) (afsar), سَرکار‎ (fa) (sarkâr)
• Polish: wysoki urzędnik m, wyższy urzędnik m
• Portuguese: oficial (pt) m or f, comandante (pt) m or f
• Romanian: ofițer (ro) m, funcționar (ro) m
• Russian: слу́жащий (ru) m (slúžaščij), чино́вник (ru) m (činóvnik), чино́вница (ru) f (činóvnica), должностно́е лицо́ (ru) n (dolžnostnóje licó)
• Scottish Gaelic: oifigear m
• Slovak: funkcionár m, funkcionárka f
• Swahili: afisa (sw), ofisa (sw)
• Swedish: officer (sv) c (military):, direktör (sv) c (business):
• Thai: เจ้าหน้าที่ (th) (jâao-nâa-tîi)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: службо́вець (uk) m (službóvecʹ), службо́вка (uk) f (službóvka)
• Welsh: swyddog (cy) m
• Zazaki: êfser m, êfser f, êfsere f

a respectful term of address for an officer, especially a police officer

• Hungarian: biztos úr

one who holds a public office

• Arabic: مَسْؤُول‎ (ar) m (masʔūl)
• Belarusian: чыно́ўнiк m (čynóŭnik), чыно́ўнiца f (čynóŭnica), ура́днiк m (urádnik), ура́днiца f (urádnica)
• Bulgarian: чино́вник (bg) m (činóvnik), чино́вничка f (činóvnička), чино́вница f (činóvnica)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 官員／官员 (zh) (guānyuán)

• Finnish: virkamies (fi)
• French: fonctionnaire (fr) m or f
• German: Beamter (de) m, Beamtin (de) f
• Hindi: अधिकारी (hi) m (adhikārī)
• Hungarian: tisztviselő (hu), tisztségviselő (hu)
• Japanese: 役人 (ja) (やくにん, yakunin)
• Korean: 공무원(公務員) (ko) (gongmuwon)
• Polish: urzędnik (pl) m, urzędniczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: funcionário público (pt) m
• Romanian: funcționar public m
• Russian: чино́вник (ru) m (činóvnik), чино́вница (ru) f (činóvnica)
• Scottish Gaelic: maor m
• Swedish: tjänsteman (sv) c, ämbetsman (sv) c
• Ukrainian: чино́вник m (čynóvnyk), чино́вниця f (čynóvnycja), уря́дник m (urjádnyk), уря́дниця f (urjádnycja)

agent or servant endowed with the ability to act on initiative

• Finnish: asiamies (fi)
• Swahili: afisa (sw)

contraction of the term "commissioned officer"

• Albanian: oficer (sq) m
• Arabic: ضَابِط‎ m (ḍābiṭ)
• Armenian: սպա (hy) (spa)
• Azerbaijani: zabit (az)
• Belarusian: афіцэ́р m (aficér)
• Bulgarian: офице́р m (oficér)
• Burmese: စစ်ဗိုလ် (cacbuil)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 軍官／军官 (zh) (jūnguān)

• Czech: důstojník (cs) m, oficír (cs) m (dated)
• Danish: officer c
• Dutch: officier (nl) m
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: ohvitser
• Finnish: upseeri (fi)
• French: officier (fr) m, officière (fr) f
• Georgian: ოფიცერი (opiceri)
• German: Offizier (de) m, Offizierin (de) f
• Hebrew: קָצִין‎ (he) m (katsín)
• Hindi: ऑफ़िसर m (ŏfisar), अफ़सर m (afsar), अफसर (hi) m (aphsar)
• Hungarian: tiszt (hu), katonatiszt (hu)
• Inari Sami: upseer
• Indonesian: perwira (id)
• Italian: ufficiale (it) m or f
• Japanese: 士官 (ja) (しかん, shikan), 将校 (ja) (しょうこう, shōkō)
• Kazakh: офицер (kk) (ofiser)
• Korean: 장교(將校) (ko) (janggyo), 군관(軍官) (ko) (gun'gwan)
• Kyrgyz: офицер (ky) (ofitser)
• Latvian: virsnieks m
• Lithuanian: karininkas m
• Macedonian: офицер m (oficer)
• Malay: pegawai, perwira (Indonesia)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: offiser m

  Nynorsk: offiser m

• Persian: اَفسَر‎ (fa) (afsar)
• Polish: oficer (pl) m
• Portuguese: oficial (pt) m or f
• Romanian: ofițer (ro) m
• Russian: офице́р (ru) m (oficér) (military or police)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: офѝцӣр m, ча̑снӣк m

  Roman: ofìcīr (sh) m, čȃsnīk (sh) m

• Slovak: dôstojník m, oficier m (dated)
• Slovene: oficir m, častnik m
• Spanish: oficial (es) m or f
• Swedish: officer (sv) c
• Tajik: афсар (afsar)
• Thai: นายทหาร
• Turkish: subay (tr)
• Turkmen: ofiser
• Ukrainian: офіце́р m (oficér)
• Urdu: افسر‎ m (afsar)
• Uzbek: ofitser (uz)
• Vietnamese: sĩ quan (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: (1) ^{(please verify)} oficer (sq), (2) ^{(please verify)} nënpunës
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} officier (nl) m
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} קָצִין‎ (he) m (katsín)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} agente (it) m, ^{(please verify)} ufficiale (it)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} oficial (es) m

Verb

officer (third-person singular simple present officers, present participle officering, simple past and past participle officered)

1. (transitive) To supply with officers.
2. (transitive) To command as or like an officer.
   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 31, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     Many of our journals are officered by Irish gentlemen, and their gallant brigade does the penning among us, as their ancestors used to transact the fighting in Europe; and engage under many a flag, to be good friends when the battle is over.

   • 1929, Robert Graves, chapter 10, in Good-Bye to All That‎^[1], London: Jonathan Cape, page 115:

     The regular battalions of the regiment, though officered mainly by Anglo-Welshmen of county families, did not normally contain more than about one Welshman in fifty in the ranks.

Synonyms

• direct
• conduct
• manage

Related terms

• CO
• NCO

Translations

to supply with officers

• Vietnamese: chỉ huy (vi)

to command like an officer

Middle English

Alternative forms

• offecer, officeer, officeere, officere, officiare, officier, offiser, offycer, offycere, offyseer, oficer

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Latin officiārius; equivalent to office +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔfiˈseːr/, /ˈɔfisər/

Noun

officer (plural officers)

1. A hireling or subordinate; one employed to serve, especially at an estate.
2. An official or officeholder; the holder of a prominent office or position.
3. A municipal, local or societal official or officeholder.
4. A religious or ecclesiastical official or officeholder.
5. (religion) A deputy or subordinate of the forces of good or evil.
6. (rare) One who supervises or organises jousting.
7. (rare) A member or leader of a military force.

Descendants

• English: officer
• Scots: offisher

References

• “offī̆cē̆r, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-20.

Old French

Alternative forms

• officier

Noun

officer m (oblique plural officers, nominative singular officers, nominative plural officer)

1. officer

References

• officer on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from French officer.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

officer c

1. officer, a military person of fänrik grade or higher
2. (archaic) ämbetsman, tjänsteman; one who holds a public office

Declension

Declension of officer
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	officer	officeren	officerare	officerarna
Genitive	officers	officerens	officerares	officerarnas

Derived terms

• officerare