oficina

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish oficina. Doublet of officina and usine.

Noun

oficina (plural oficinas)

1. A nitrate-producing factory in a Spanish-speaking country.
   • 1890, William Howard Russell, “Iquique to the Pampas”, in A Visit to Chile and the Nitrate Fields of Tarapacá, Etc., London: J[ames] S[prent] Virtue & Co., […], page 171:

     The external aspect of the oficina was not unlike that of a north-country coal or iron mine—tall chimneys and machinery, corrugated iron buildings, offices and houses, the shanties of workmen, a high bank of refuse.

   • 1907 July 22, F. G. Lomax, “Copy of letter from Mr. F. G. Lomax to the Law Debenture Corporation (Limited)”, in The Daily Telegraph, number 16,311, London, published 8 August 1907, page 1, column 6:

     Neighbouring oficinas place nitrate f.o.b. at shipping ports at a cost of from 5s to 5s. 6d. a quintal.

   • 1942-05, John Lyon Rich, “Physiographic Setting of the Nitrate Deposits of Tarapacá, Chile: Its Bearing on the Problem of Origin and Concentration”, in Economic Geology, volume XXXVII, number 3, →ISSN, page 198:

     Fig. 9 shows an oficina that has derived its nitrate from one of the small “islands” or “peninsulas” rising above the playa which can be seen surrounding the workings on all sides but the left.

Further reading

• “oficina”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “oficina, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “oficina”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Aragonese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin officīna (“workshop”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ofiˈθina/
• IPA^(key): /ofiˈsina/ (Benasquese)
• Rhymes: -ina
• Syllabification: o‧fi‧ci‧na

Noun

oficina f (plural oficinas)

1. office (a room used for non-manual work)

Further reading

• Diccionario ortografico de l'aragonés (Seguntes la PO de l'EFA)

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin officīna (“workshop”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [u.fiˈsi.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [o.fiˈsi.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [o.fiˈsi.na]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

oficina f (plural oficines)

1. office (a room used for non-manual work)

Further reading

• “oficina”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “oficina”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “oficina” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “oficina”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish oficina.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: o‧fi‧ci‧na

Noun

oficina

1. office

Related terms

• oficial
• oficiales
• oficio

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin officīna (“workshop”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊfiˈθinɐ/

Noun

oficina f (plural oficinas)

1. office (a room used for non-manual work)

Further reading

• “oficina”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026
• “oficina”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “oficina”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Macanese

Alternative forms

• oficína

Etymology

Presumably from Portuguese oficina, although probably influenced by English office.

Noun

oficina

1. office (a room used for non-manual work)

   tifinâ na oficina ― to have lunch at (one's desk at) the office

2. department
3. factory

References

• https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm#o

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• officina (pre-standardization spelling)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-der.

Proto-Italic *opis

Latin ops

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.

Proto-Italic *-faks

Latin -fex

Latin opifex

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos

Proto-Italic *-īnos

Latin -īnusnom.

Latin -īna

Latin officīnalbor.

Portuguese oficina

Learned borrowing from Latin officīna (“workshop”). Doublet of usina.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /o.fiˈsĩ.nɐ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.fiˈsi.nɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.fiˈsi.nɐ/
  • (Central Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.fɨˈsi.nɐ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.fɨˈsi.nɐ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -inɐ
• Hyphenation: o‧fi‧ci‧na

Noun

oficina f (plural oficinas)

1. workshop

   A pintura é atribuída à oficina de Rubens.

   The painting is attributed to the workshop of Rubens.

   O escultor trabalhava sempre até tarde na sua oficina.

   The sculptor always worked late in his workshop.

2. automobile garage (a place where cars are serviced and repaired)

   Hoje eu levei o meu carro à oficina. ― I took my car into the garage today.

Descendants

• Macanese: oficina

Further reading

• “oficina”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “oficina”, in Dicionário Eletrônico Houaiss [Houaiss Electronic Dictionary] (in Portuguese), São Paulo: UOL, 2004–2026
• “oficina”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “oficina”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “oficina”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-der.

Proto-Italic *opis

Latin ops

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.

Proto-Italic *-faks

Latin -fex

Latin opifex

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos

Proto-Italic *-īnos

Latin -īnusnom.

Latin -īna

Latin officīnalbor.

Spanish oficina

Learned borrowing from Latin officīna (“workshop”). Doublet of usina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ofiˈθina/ [o.fiˈθi.na] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ofiˈsina/ [o.fiˈsi.na] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -ina
• Syllabification: o‧fi‧ci‧na

Noun

oficina f (plural oficinas)

1. office (a room used for non-manual work)

   Synonyms: despacho, (colloquial) ofi

2. workshop

   Synonym: taller

3. laboratory (in a pharmacy)

   Synonym: laboratorio

Derived terms

• ofi
• oficina de correos
• oficinista

Descendants

• Chavacano: oficina
• → Cebuano: opisina
• → Tagalog: opisina

Further reading

• “oficina”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025