official

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old French official, from Latin officium ‎(“duty, service”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈfɪʃəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃəl

Adjective

official ‎(comparative more official, superlative most official)

1. Of or pertaining to an office or public trust.

   official duties

2. Derived from the proper office or officer, or from the proper authority; made or communicated by virtue of authority

   an official statement or report

3. Approved by authority; authorized.
4. sanctioned by the pharmacopoeia; appointed to be used in medicine; officinal

   an official drug or preparation

5. Discharging an office or function.
   • Sir Thomas Browne

     the stomach and other parts official unto nutrition

6. Relating to an office; especially, to a subordinate executive officer or attendant.
7. Relating to an ecclesiastical judge appointed by a bishop, chapter, archdeacon, etc., with charge of the spiritual jurisdiction.

Antonyms

• unofficial

Related terms

• office
• officer
• officiate
• officiality

Translations

of or pertaining to an office or public trust

• Catalan: oficial (ca)
• Finnish: virallinen (fi)
• Italian: ufficiale (it)
• Romanian: oficial (ro) m, n

• Russian: служе́бный (ru) ‎(služébnyj), должностно́й (ru) ‎(dolžnostnój)
• Tagalog: tungkulanin
• Vietnamese: chánh thức

derived from the proper office

• Bashkir: рәсми ‎(räsmi)
• Catalan: oficial (ca)
• Finnish: virallinen (fi)
• Italian: ufficiale (it)

• Kazakh: ресми (kk) ‎(resmï)
• Malay: rasmi
• Russian: официа́льный (ru) ‎(oficiálʹnyj)
• Swahili: rasmi (sw)

approved by authority

• Bashkir: рәсми ‎(räsmi)
• Catalan: oficial (ca)
• Finnish: virallinen (fi)

• Italian: ufficiale (it)
• Kazakh: ресми (kk) ‎(resmï)
• Russian: официа́льный (ru) ‎(oficiálʹnyj)
• Swahili: rasmi (sw)

appointed to be used in medicine — see officinal

discharging an office or function

• Catalan: oficial (ca)

• Finnish: virallinen (fi)

relating to an office; especially, to a subordinate executive officer or attendant

• Albanian: zyrtar (sq)
• Arabic: مَسْؤُول (ar) ‎(masʾūl)
• Azeri: rəsmi (az)
• Catalan: oficial (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 官方 (zh) ‎(guānfāng), 正式 (zh) ‎(zhèngshì)

• Czech: oficiální (cs)
• Dutch: officieel (nl), ambtelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: oficiala
• Finnish: virallinen (fi), virka- (fi)
• French: officiel (fr)
• German: offiziell (de), amtlich (de), dienstlich
• Greek: υπηρεσιακός (el) m ‎(ypiresiakós), επίσημος (el) m ‎(epísimos)
• Hindi: अधिकारी m ‎(adhikari)

• Hungarian: hivatali (hu), hivatalos (hu)
• Ido: oficala (io)
• Indonesian: resmi (id)
• Italian: ufficiale (it)
• Japanese: 公式 (ja) ‎(こうしき, kōshiki), 公の ‎(おおやけの, ōyake-no)
• Kazakh: ресми (kk) ‎(resmï)
• Korean: 공식 (ko) ‎(gongsik)
• Latin: official
• Maltese: uffiċjali
• Navajo: wááshindoon
• Norwegian: offisiell (no)
• Portuguese: oficial (pt)
• Romanian: oficial (ro) m, n
• Russian: официа́льный (ru) ‎(oficiálʹnyj), служе́бный (ru) ‎(služébnyj), должностно́й (ru) ‎(dolžnostnój)
• Slovene: uráden (sl)
• Spanish: oficial (es)
• Turkish: resmî (tr)

relating to an ecclesiastical judge

Noun

official ‎(plural officials)

1. An office holder invested with powers and authorities.

   David Barnes was the official charged with the running of the sports club.‎

   • 2014 March 15, “Turn it off”, The Economist, volume 410, number 8878:

     If the takeover is approved, Comcast would control 20 of the top 25 cable markets, […]. Antitrust officials will need to consider Comcast’s status as a monopsony (a buyer with disproportionate power), when it comes to negotiations with programmers, whose channels it pays to carry.

2. A person responsible for applying the rules of a game or sport in a competition.

   In most soccer games there are three officials: the referee and two linesmen.‎

Hyponyms

• See also Wikisaurus:official

Derived terms

• fourth official

Translations

office holder invested with powers and authorities

• Arabic: مَسْئُول m ‎(masʾūl)
• Armenian: պաշտոնյա ‎(paštonya)
• Belarusian: службо́вая асо́ба f ‎(službóvaja asóba)
• Catalan: funcionari (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 官員, 官员 (zh) ‎(guānyuán)

• Czech: funkcionář m
• Dutch: beambte (nl) m, f, functionaris (nl) m, f, ambtenaar (nl) m, f
• Finnish: viranomainen (fi), virkamies (fi) (public official), virkailija (fi), toimihenkilö (fi), toimitsija (in general)
• French: cadre (fr), fonctionnaire (fr)
• German: Beamter (de) m, Beamtin (de) f
• Greek: αξιωματούχος (el) c ‎(axiomatoúchos)
• Hausa: jami'i (ha)
• Hungarian: hivatalnok (hu), tisztviselő (hu)

• Japanese: 役員 (ja) ‎(やくいん, yakuin)
• Korean: 공무원 (ko) ‎(gongmuwon)
• Malay: pegawai
• Maori: āpiha
• Portuguese: oficial (pt) m, funcionário (pt) m
• Romanian: funcționar oficial m, funcționară oficială f
• Russian: официа́льное лицо́ n ‎(oficiálʹnoje licó), чино́вник (ru) m ‎(činóvnik), слу́жащий (ru) m ‎(slúžaščij)
• Spanish: funcionario (es) m
• Swedish: tjänsteman (sv) c
• Ukrainian: службо́ва осо́ба f ‎(službóva osóba), урядо́ва осо́ба f ‎(urjadóva osóba); службо́вець (uk) m ‎(službóvecʹ), службо́вка f ‎(službóvka); (in the Russian Empire) чино́вник m ‎(čynóvnyk)

person responsible for applying the rules in a competition

• Finnish: toimitsija, tuomari (fi)

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: "an employee of the public authorities who acts in an official capacity and with certain powers and authorities"

• Norman: ^{(please verify)} commîns m (Jersey)

• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} offentlig tjenestemann m

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: proved · plan · pain · #939: official · loss · spot · wonderful

External links

• official in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• official in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Old French

Alternative forms

• officiel

Noun

official m ‎(oblique plural officiaus or officiax or officials, nominative singular officiaus or officiax or officials, nominative plural official)

1. court official
2. chamber pot

Adjective

official

1. official; certified or permitted by an authoritative source
   • 1303, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine), page 182 of this essay:

     tumeur c’est maladie officiale

Descendants

• English: official
• French: officiel

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Portuguese

Adjective

official ‎(plural officiaes, comparable)

1. Obsolete spelling of oficial

Noun

official m f (plural officiaes)

1. Obsolete spelling of oficial