office

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English office, from Old French office, from Latin officium (“personal, official, or moral duty; official position; function; ceremony, esp. last rites”), contracted from opificium (“construction: the act of building or the thing built”), from opifex (“doer of work, craftsman”) + -ium (“-y”, forming actions), from op- (“work”) + -i- (connective) + -fex (combining form of faciō (“to do, to make”)). The computing sense is a genericization of various proprietary program suites, such as Microsoft Office. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɒf.ɪs/ (Standard Southern British, General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈɔf.ɪs/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɔ.fɪs/, (cot–caught merger) /ˈɑ-/ (Indic) IPA(key): /ɔːfis/, (father-bother merger) /ɑː-/ Hyphenation: of‧fice Rhymes: -ɒfɪs === Noun === office (plural offices) (religion) A ceremonial duty or service, particularly: (Christianity) The authorized form of ceremonial worship of a church. (Christianity) Any special liturgy, as the Office for the Dead or of the Virgin. (Christianity) A daily service without the eucharist. (Catholicism) The daily service of the breviary, the liturgy for each canonical hour, including psalms, collects, and lessons. (Protestantism) Various prayers used with modification as a morning or evening service. (Christianity) Last rites. (Christianity, obsolete) Mass, (particularly) the introit sung at its beginning. A position of responsibility. Hypernyms: role; rank 1787, United States Constitution, Article II, §1: I do solemnly swear... that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Official position, particularly high employment within government; tenure in such a position. Hypernyms: role; rank A duty, particularly owing to one's position or station; a charge, trust, or role; (obsolete, rare) moral duty. (archaic) Function: anything typically done by or expected of something. (now usually in plural) A service, a kindness. 1575, Elizabeth I, letter: ...which we have hitherto forborne to graunt... for the evell offices whiche her other Secretary did there. (figuratively, slang) Inside information. A room, set of rooms, or building used for non-manual work, particularly: A room, set of rooms, or building used for administration and bookkeeping. A room, set of rooms, or building used for selling services or tickets to the public. 1819 September 22, John Keats, letter to Reynolds: There will be some of the family waiting for you at the coach-office. (chiefly US, medicine) A room, set of rooms, or building used for consultation and diagnosis, but not surgery or other major procedures. (figuratively) The staff of such places. (figuratively, in large organizations) The administrative departments housed in such places, particularly: (UK, Australia, usually capitalized, with clarifying modifier) A ministry or other department of government. The secretary of state's British colleague heads the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. (Catholicism, usually capitalized) Short for Holy Office: the court of final appeal in cases of heresy. A particular place of business of a larger white-collar business. (now in the plural, dated) The parts of a house or estate devoted to manual work and storage, as the kitchen, scullery, laundry, stables, etc., particularly (euphemistic, dated) a house or estate's facilities for urination and defecation: outhouses or lavatories. 1720, William Willymott translating Francis Bacon as "Of Building" in Lord Bacons Essays, Vol. I, page 283: As for the Offices, let them stand at some Distance from the House, with some low covered Galleries, to pass from them to the Palace it self. (UK law, historical) Clipping of inquest of office: (obsolete) A piece of land used for hunting; the area of land overseen by a gamekeeper. (figuratively, slang, obsolete) A hangout: a place where one is normally found. (UK military slang, dated) A plane's cockpit, particularly an observer's cockpit. (computing) A collection of business software typically including a word processor and spreadsheet and slideshow programs. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) (obsolete) An official or group of officials; (figuratively) a personification of officeholders. (obsolete) A bodily function, (particularly) urination and defecation; an act of urination or defecation. 1764 August 5, David Garrick, letter: I never, since I left England, till now, have regal'd Myself with a good house of Office... the holes in Germany are... too round, chiefly owing... to the broader bottoms of the Germans. (obsolete) The performance of a duty; an instance of performing a duty. ==== Usage notes ==== In reference to professional services, the term office is used with somewhat greater scope in American English, which speaks of doctor's offices etc., where British English generally prefers particular words such as surgery. ==== Synonyms ==== (religious ritual): service, divine service, religious service, liturgy (Catholic ritual): Divine Office, breviary, Liturgy of the Hours, liturgy of the hours, canonical hours (position of responsibility): See Thesaurus:office (place of work): workplace, workstead, practice (doctor's office): surgery (UK) (major governmental division): department, ministry, bureau (facilities for urination and defecation): See Thesaurus:bathroom ==== Hyponyms ==== (position of responsibility): See Thesaurus:office (site of non-manual work): ticket office, box office (selling tickets); post office (governmental mail services) ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === office (third-person singular simple present offices, present participle officing, simple past and past participle officed) To provide (someone) with an office. (intransitive) To have an office. === References === Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 7th ed. "office". G. & C. Merriam Co. (Springfield), 1967. The Century Dictionary. "office". The Century Co. (New York), 1911. === Anagrams === coiffe == French == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin officium. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɔ.fis/ === Noun === office m (plural offices) charge, task, mandate administrative bureau, department religious service, notably liturgical office. 1886, Cora Pearl, Mémoires, ch 3. "Ce qu'il en coute d'aller seule à l'office." "What it costs to go alone to church." ==== Derived terms ==== couteau d'office faire office de office des Grandes Heures office de tourisme === Noun === office f (plural offices) pantry, room adjoining a kitchen where dishes, table linens, and provisions are kept place where a household's table (food and drink)-related services are conducted, especially by domestic staff === References === Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition === Further reading === “office”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 === Anagrams === coiffe, coiffé == Latin == === Verb === office second-person singular present active imperative of officiō === Noun === office ablative singular of offex == Middle English == === Etymology 1 === From Old French office, from Latin officium, contracted form of opificium. ==== Alternative forms ==== offiz, offis, offyce, ofys, offise, ofice, offece, offys ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): /ɔˈfiːs(ə)/, /ˈɔfis(ə)/ ==== Noun ==== office (plural offices) The state of being employed or having a work or job; employment: Ecclesiastical or religious work; a church career. (rare) Unskilled work; any work that is unimportant or base. A position of responsibility or control; a crucial occupation: c. 1300, St. Thomas Becket, ll. 244 ff. A clerical or church post or position; a religious office. A governmental or administrative position or post; a political office. c. 1300, St. Thomas Becket, ll. 223 ff. The situation, status, or rank one has in the wider world or within society. A task, chore or assignment, especially one which is important or required; an obligation: The role, purpose, or intended use or utility of something (especially a bodily part). c. 1390, John Gower, Confessio Amantis, Book VII, ll. 467 ff.: c. 1395, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Tale of the Wyf of Bathe" in Tales of Caunterbury, ll. 127 ff.: A task or function that one organ does to assist another or the body as a whole. A religious ceremony or ritual; a task performed for religious reasons. a. 1300, Arthour & Merlin, ll. 2758 ff.: (Christianity) The beginning or the initial portion of the Eucharist. c. 1300, St. Thomas Becket, ll. 942 ff.: A core human faculty (e.g. movement, talking, literacy) A part, faculty, or division of a larger body: A part of a house or estate devoted to manual work and storage. a. 1422, petition, P.R.O. 117, 5842: A part or subdivision of an estate devoted to a specified function. (rare) A part or subdivision of a government devoted to a specified function. 1435, petition, P.R.O. 130, 6460A: An inquest undertaken to investigate the possession of land or property. 1432, petition, P.R.O. 26, 1259: The intended or ideal working or operation of something. An officeholder invested with powers and authority. (rare) A building or structure used for business purposes; an office. (rare) The process or undertaking of a task or assignment. c. 1300, The Romance of Sir Beues of Hamtoun, ll. 3555 ff.: (rare) The activities typical of and concomitant to one's place in society. (rare) A favour; a beneficial deed or act. ===== Related terms ===== officen officer official ===== Descendants ===== English: office Scots: office, offish ===== References ===== “offī̆ce, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 17 March 2019. === Etymology 2 === From Old French officier. ==== Verb ==== office alternative form of officen == Norman == === Noun === office m (plural offices) (Jersey) office == Old French == === Noun === office oblique singular, m (oblique plural offices, nominative singular offices, nominative plural office) office (building; room) office (position, role, job) service ==== Descendants ==== French: office === References === office on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub