official

English

Etymology

From Middle English official, from Old French official, from Latin officiālis, from Latin officium (“duty, service”), by surface analysis, office +‎ -ial.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈfɪʃ.əl/, [əˈfɪʃ.l̩]

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃəl

Adjective

official (comparative more official, superlative most official)

1. Of or about an office or public trust.

   official duties

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

   an official statement or report

3. Approved by authority; authorized.

   The Official Strategy Guide

   1. (Of a statement) Dubious but recognized by authorities as the truth or canon.

      Despite these testimonies, "accidental asphyxiation" remains his official cause of death.

4. (pharmacology) Sanctioned by the pharmacopoeia; appointed to be used in medicine; officinal.

   an official drug or preparation

5. Discharging an office or function.
   • 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:

     the stomach and other parts official unto nutrition

6. Relating to an office, especially 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.
8. (informal) True, real, beyond doubt.

   Well, it's official: you lost your mind!

9. (pharmacology) Listed in a national pharmacopeia.

Antonyms

• unofficial

Derived terms

• antiofficial
• co-official
• counterofficial
• ex-official
• extraofficial
• Facebook official
• inofficial
• nonofficial
• non-official
• official at-bat
• officialate
• official cover
• official gazette
• Official IRA
• officialise/-ize, -isation/-ization
• officialism
• officialist
• officiality
• official language
• officially
• official mark
• officialness
• official passport
• official scorer
• preofficial
• semi-official
• subofficial

Related terms

• office
• officer
• officiate

Translations

of or pertaining to an office or public trust

• Albanian: zyrtar (sq)
• Belarusian: службо́вы (službóvy)
• Bulgarian: служе́бен (bg) (služében)
• Catalan: oficial (ca)
• Dutch: officieel (nl)
• Estonian: ametlik (et)
• Finnish: virallinen (fi)
• Galician: oficial (gl) m or f
• Greek: επίσημος (el) (epísimos)
• Hindi: आधिकारिक (ādhikārik), अधिकृत (hi) (adhikŕt)
• Hungarian: hivatalos (hu), hivatali (hu)
• Italian: ufficiale (it)
• Ladino:

  Roman: ofisial

• Latin: officialis
• Malayalam: ഔദ്യോഗിക (ml) (audyōgika)
• Marathi: कार्यालयीन (kāryālyīn)
• Polish: służbowy (pl)
• Portuguese: oficial (pt)
• Romanian: oficial (ro)
• Russian: служе́бный (ru) (služébnyj), должностно́й (ru) (dolžnostnój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зва̀ничан, слу̏жбен

  Roman: zvàničan (sh), slȕžben (sh)

• Spanish: oficial (es)
• Tagalog: tungkulanin
• Ukrainian: службо́вий (službóvyj), посадо́вий (posadóvyj)
• Urdu: مَعْرُوف (ma'rūf)
• Vietnamese: chánh thức, chính thức (vi)
• Yiddish: אָפֿיציעל (ofitsyel)

derived from the proper office

• Bashkir: рәсми (rəsmi)
• Bulgarian: официа́лен (bg) (oficiálen)
• Catalan: oficial (ca)
• Finnish: virallinen (fi)
• Hindi: आधिकारिक (ādhikārik), अधिकृत (hi) (adhikŕt)
• Hungarian: hatósági (hu)
• Indonesian: resmi (id)
• Italian: ufficiale (it)
• Kazakh: ресми (resmi)
• Ladino:

  Latin: ofisial

• Latin: officialis m
• Malay: rasmi
• Russian: официа́льный (ru) (oficiálʹnyj)
• Spanish: oficial (es)
• Swahili: rasmi (sw)

approved by authority

• Albanian: zyrtar (sq)
• Arabic: رَسْمِيّ (ar) (rasmiyy)

  Hijazi Arabic: رَسْمي (rasmi)

• Armenian: պաշտոնական (hy) (paštonakan)
• Azerbaijani: rəsmi (az)
• Bashkir: рәсми (rəsmi)
• Belarusian: афіцы́йны (be) (aficýjny), афіцыя́льны (aficyjálʹny)
• Bengali: সরকারী (bn) (śorkari), দাপ্তরিক (daptorik)
• Bulgarian: официа́лен (bg) (oficiálen)
• Catalan: oficial (ca)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: oficiální (cs)
• Danish: officiel
• Dutch: officieel (nl)
• Estonian: ametlik (et)
• Finnish: virallinen (fi)
• French: officiel (fr)
• Georgian: ოფიციალური (opicialuri)
• German: offiziell (de)
• Greek: επίσημος (el) (epísimos)
• Hebrew: רִשְׁמִי (he) (rishmí)
• Hindi: आधिकारिक (ādhikārik), अधिकृत (hi) (adhikŕt)
• Hungarian: hivatalos (hu)
• Icelandic: opinber (is)
• Indonesian: resmi (id)
• Irish: oifigiúil
• Italian: ufficiale (it)
• Japanese: 正式な (ja) (せいしきな, seishiki na), 正式の (ja) (せいしきの, seishiki no)
• Kazakh: ресми (resmi)
• Korean: 공식적(公式的) (ko) (gongsikjeok)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: resmî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: ырасмый (ırasmıy), расмий (ky) (rasmiy)
• Ladino:

  Latin: ofisial

• Latvian: oficiāls
• Lithuanian: oficialus
• Macedonian: официја́лен (oficijálen)
• Malay: rasmi
• Malayalam: ഔദ്യോഗിക (ml) (audyōgika)
• Maltese: uffiċjal
• Maori: whaimana
• Marathi: अधिकृत (mr) (adhikrut)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: албан ёсны (alban josny)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: offisiell (no)

• Pashto: رسمي (ps) (rasmí)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: رَسْمی (fa) (rasmi)

• Polish: oficjalny (pl)
• Romanian: oficial (ro)
• Russian: официа́льный (ru) (oficiálʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: слу̏жбен, зва̀ничан

  Roman: slȕžben (sh), zvàničan (sh)

• Slovak: oficiálny
• Slovene: uraden (sl)
• Spanish: oficial (es)
• Swahili: rasmi (sw)
• Swedish: officiell (sv)
• Tajik: расмӣ (tg) (rasmi)
• Tatar: рәсми (räsmi)
• Turkish: resmî (tr)
• Turkmen: resmi
• Ukrainian: офіці́йний (oficíjnyj), офіціа́льний (oficiálʹnyj)
• Urdu: دَفْتَری (daftarī), سَرْکاری (ur) (sarkārī)
• Uyghur: رەسمىي (resmiy)
• Uzbek: rasmiy (uz)

(of alleged truth) canonical but disputed

• Finnish: virallinen (fi)
• Hungarian: hivatalos (hu)
• Japanese: 表向きの (ja) (おもてむきの, omotemuki no)

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), zyrtare f
• Arabic: مَسْؤُول (ar) (masʔūl)
• Azerbaijani: rəsmi (az)
• Bulgarian: служе́бен (bg) (služében), официа́лен (bg) (oficiálen)
• 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 (de)
• Greek: υπηρεσιακός (el) m (ypiresiakós), επίσημος (el) m (epísimos)
• Hindi: अधिकारी (hi) m (adhikārī)
• 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 (ja) (おおやけの, ōyake no)
• Kazakh: ресми (resmi)
• Korean: 공식(公式) (ko) (gongsik)
• Kyrgyz: ырасмый (ırasmıy)
• Latin: official
• Maltese: uffiċjali
• Navajo: wááshindoon
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: offisiell (no)

• Portuguese: oficial (pt)
• Romanian: oficial (ro)
• 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, a person holding an official position in government, sports, or other organization.

   Officials in the Firefly administration assure the Sylvanians they don't want war either.

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

   The company's officials became nabobs as it took on more and more power after Plassey.

   • 1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. III:

     ...officials with their prehensile bottoms...

   • 2014 March 15, “Turn it off”, in 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.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:official

Derived terms

• fourth official
• officialdom
• officialese
• officialhood
• officialship
• officialty
• subofficial
• television match official
• underofficial
• video official

Translations

office holder invested with powers and authorities

• Arabic: مَسْئُول m (masʔūl)
• Armenian: պաշտոնյա (hy) (paštonya)
• Azerbaijani: məmur (az)
• Belarusian: службо́вая асо́ба f (službóvaja asóba), чыно́ўнік m (čynównik), чыно́ўніца f (čynównica)
• Bulgarian: длъжностно́ лице́ n (dlǎžnostnó licé), чино́вник (bg) m (činóvnik), чино́вница f (činóvnica)
• Catalan: funcionari (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 官員 / 官员 (zh) (guānyuán), 公務員 / 公务员 (zh) (gōngwùyuán)

• Czech: funkcionář (cs) m, úředník (cs) m
• Danish: embedsmand c, tjenestemand c (older officially regulated term)
• Dutch: beambte (nl) m or f, functionaris (nl) m or f, ambtenaar (nl) m or f
• Egyptian: (sr)
• Finnish: viranomainen (fi), virkamies (fi) (public official), virkailija (fi), toimihenkilö (fi), toimitsija (fi) (in general)
• French: cadre (fr), fonctionnaire (fr)
• German: Beamter (de) m, Beamtin (de) f
• Greek: αξιωματούχος (el) c (axiomatoúchos)
• Hausa: jami'i (ha)
• Hindi: अधिकारी (hi) m (adhikārī)
• Hungarian: hivatalnok (hu), tisztviselő (hu), tisztségviselő (hu)
• Indonesian: pejabat (id)
• Ingrian: cinovnikka
• Italian: funzionario (it) m
• Japanese: 役員 (ja) (やくいん, yakuin), 役人 (ja) (やくにん, yakunin)
• Jarawa: babu
• Korean: 공무원(公務員) (ko) (gongmuwon)
• Latin: officialis m
• Macedonian: чиновник m (činovnik), чиновничка f (činovnička)
• Malay: pegawai (ms)
• Malayalam: ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥൻ (ml) m (udyōgasthaṉ)
• Maori: āpiha
• Middle English: officer
• Mizo: hotu
• Mongolian: ᠨᠣᠶᠠᠨ (noyan), ᠲᠦᠰᠢᠮᠡᠯ (tüsimel)

  Cyrillic: ноён (mn) (nojon), түшмэл (mn) (tüšmel)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: (offentlig) tjenestemann m

• Ottoman Turkish: مأمور (meʼmur)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: مَأْمور (fa) (ma'mur), مامور (fa) (mâmur)

• Polish: oficjel m, urzędnik (pl) m, urzędniczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: oficial (pt) m, funcionário (pt) m
• Romanian: funcționar (ro) m, funcționară (ro) f, oficialitate (ro) f
• Russian: официа́льное лицо́ n (oficiálʹnoje licó), чино́вник (ru) m (činóvnik), чино́вница (ru) f (činóvnica), слу́жащий (ru) m (slúžaščij), функционе́р (ru) m (funkcionér), должностно́е лицо́ (ru) n (dolžnostnóje licó)
• Slovak: úradník m, funkcionár m
• Southern Altai: тӧрӧ (törö)
• Spanish: funcionario (es) m
• Swedish: tjänsteman (sv) c, ämbetsman (sv) c
• Telugu: అధికారి (te) (adhikāri)
• Turkish: memur (tr)
• Ukrainian: посадо́ва осо́ба f (posadóva osóba), посадо́вець m (posadóvecʹ), службо́ва осо́ба f (službóva osóba), службо́вець (uk) m (službóvecʹ), службо́вка (uk) f (službóvka); (government) урядо́ва осо́ба f (urjadóva osóba), урядо́вець m (urjadóvecʹ); (in the Russian Empire) чино́вник m (čynóvnyk)
• Urdu: اَدھِکاری m (adhikārī), اَہَلکار m (ahalkār), عُہ٘دے دار m ('uhde dār), مَامُور m (māmūr)

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

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

person responsible for applying the rules in a competition

• Belarusian: суддзя́ m (suddzjá)
• Bulgarian: съдия́ (bg) m (sǎdijá)
• Danish: dommer (da) c
• Finnish: toimitsija (fi), tuomari (fi)
• French: juge (fr) m or f, arbitre (fr) m or f
• Hungarian: játékvezető (hu)
• Russian: судья́ (ru) m (sudʹjá)
• Swedish: domare (sv)
• Ukrainian: суддя́ m (suddjá)

Further reading

• “official”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “official”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• officiale, offycyal, offyciall, officiall, offecialle

Etymology

From Old French official, from Latin officiālis; equivalent to office +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔfisiˈaːl/, /ɔˈfisial/

Noun

official (plural officials)

1. An underling of a member of the clergy, often heading a clerical court.
2. A hireling or subordinate; one employed to serve, especially at an estate.

Descendants

• English: official
• Scots: offeecial

References

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

Adjective

official (plural and weak singular officiale)

1. (of body parts) Functional; serving a purpose.
2. (rare) Requisite or mandatory for a task.

Descendants

• English: official
• Scots: offeecial

References

• “officiāl, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 20 March 2019.

Old French

Alternative forms

• officiel

Noun

official oblique singular, 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 m (oblique and nominative feminine singular officiale)

1. official; certified or permitted by an authoritative source
   • 1377, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine), page 182 of this essay:

     tumeur c’est maladie officiale

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• → Middle English: official, officiale, offycyal, offyciall, officiall, offecialle
  • English: official
  • Scots: offeecial
• French: officiel

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: of‧fi‧ci‧al

Adjective

official m or f (plural officiaes or (obsolete) officiais)

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of oficial

Noun

official m or f by sense (plural officiaes or (obsolete) officiais)

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of oficial