officen.
/ˈɒfɪs/, U.S. /ˈɔfəs/, /ˈɑfəs/ 1. Christian Church. An authorized form of divine service or worship, spec. (a) (also Divine Office) a non-Eucharistic service for daily use; esp. (in the Roman Catholic Church) the daily service of the breviary for each of the canonical hours, comprising psalms, collects, and lessons which vary with the day; (also in some Protestant churches, esp. the Church of England) such prayers used in a modified form as a morning or evening service; to say office: to recite the Divine Office; †(b) (formerly) the service of the Mass or Holy Communion, esp. the introit sung at the beginning of this service (also called the office of the mass) (obsolete); (c) any special liturgy for a particular occasion, as Office for the Dead, Office for Baptism, Office for the Visitation of the Sick, etc.; (also) a liturgy devoted to a particular individual, as Office of the Virgin, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > obsequies > [noun]
officec1300
exequy1382
obsequyc1385
exequy1389
mortuaryc1450
funeral1513
obit1525
funeral honoursa1535
last offices1535
justments1648
pompe funèbre1934
society > faith > worship > canonical hours > [noun]
service?c1225
houra1250
officec1300
divine service1389
canonical hours1483
course1570
little hours1688
choir offices1876
society > faith > worship > observance, ritual > [noun] > instance or form of
churchOE
servicelOE
rightlOE
observancea1250
officec1300
preachingc1350
ritec1350
ceremonyc1380
usea1382
prayerc1384
form1399
ordinancea1400
ordera1425
worship?a1425
worshippingc1443
common prayer1493
common servicea1500
ordinarya1513
celebrity1534
church servicea1555
religious exercise1560
function1564
agend1581
church office1581
liturgy1593
Common Prayer service1648
ritualities1648
ceremonial1672
hierurgy1678
occasion1761
religiosities1834
cursus1865
joss-pidgin1886
worship service1929
society > faith > worship > parts of service > introit > [noun]
officec1300
introit1483
invitatory1483
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 942 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 133 (MED) He song þulke masse ilome, for al-so heo bi-ginnez Þe furste offiz is propre inov to þe stat þat he was Inne.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 2758 (MED) Þe holy bischop..For him dede þe office; In erþe he was sikerliche Layd swiþe nobeliche.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 459 (MED) No fader folweþ þe offys of his sones deeþ [L. filii comitatur exsequias].
a1400 (?c1300) Lay Folks Mass Bk. (Royal) (1879) 86 (MED) Bi þis tyme..þo prest bigynnes office of messe.
a1400 (?c1300) Lay Folks Mass Bk. (Royal) (1879) 581 (MED) Þo preste turnes til his seruyce and saies forthe more of his office.
c1430 N. Love Mirror Blessed Life (Brasenose e.9) (1908) 50 (MED) This day, as holy chirche syngeth in the office of the masse, after the prophecie of ysaie, ‘a child is borne to vs’.
1455 in Trans. Bristol & Gloucs. Archaeol. Soc. 1890–1 (1891) 15 146 Item, j Grayel noted, begynnyng with the office of Seynt Anne.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xxii. 9 Þis psalme is songen in þe office of ded men.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Svpper of the Lorde f. cxxj The office, or Introite, (as they call it).
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 60 The byshoppe of Cauntorbery came sodenly to Powlles..and dyd the offes hym selfe in a cope and no vestment, nor mytter, nor crosse, but a crose staffe.
1663 King Charles II in J. M. Cartwright Madame (1894) 150 She is not only content to say the greate office in the breviere, every day.
1674 R. Strange Life S. Thomas Cantilupe 287 His spirituall exercises were chiefly Prayer, the H. Sacrifice of Masse, his Canonicall Houres or diuine Office.
1740 R. Challoner Garden of Soul (ed. 2) 132 With a proper Anthem and Prayer out of the Office of that Saint.
1746 T. Church Some Remarks J. Wesley's Last Jrnl. 7 Whoever..does not worship God in the Manner she prescribes..must be supposed to slight and contemn her Offices and Rules.
1784 J. Barnard Life R. Challoner xx. 132 At one o'clock he used to say the evening part of the Divine Office.
1850 A. Jameson Legends Monastic Orders 157 Every day she recited the Office of the Virgin.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany ix. 142 Proceeded to sing the office of the dead.
1868 Stephen's New Comm. Laws Eng. (ed. 6) II. 266 The celebration of marriage in this country according to the office of the Church.
1896 Church Times 13 Nov. 520/4 There is an office for the reopening of a church in the Priest's Prayer-book.
1919 Times 7 Nov. 12/1 The Armistice-day service at St. Paul's Cathedral will be the office of Holy Communion.
1933 H. Allen Anthony Adverse II. vi. xxxviii. 566 From the forward deck of the Ariostatica came the voice of Brother François saying the office for the dead.
1972 T. Keneally Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith xv. 174 [He] foraged for food while the nuns were in chapel singing their office.
2000 Church Times 21 Jan. 14/2 Comment is also being requested on the structure of Morning and Evening Prayer, and the printing-out of each office in full for each day of the week.
2. † c. An official or officer; a group of officials collectively (cf. sense 6a). Obsolete.† d. Personified, or taken as a typification of an office-holder or office-holders in general. Obsolete.
a. A position or post to which certain duties are attached, esp. one of a more or less public character; a position of trust, authority, or service under constituted authority; a post in the administration of government, the public service, the direction of a corporation, company, society, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > position or job > [noun]
steadc1000
noteOE
officec1300
ministry?a1475
rooma1485
placea1500
roomth1544
place1558
post1562
berth1720
situation1766
job1781
sit1853
spot1859
billet1870
engagement1884
shop1885
gig1908
lurk1916
possie1916
number1928
site1930
sits vac1945
hat1966
society > occupation and work > position or job > [noun] > official
officec1300
place1558
employment1590
employ1671
position1846
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 244 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 113 Þis holi Man was i-torned..To a gret office of þe world.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2071 Ðu salt ben ut of prisun numen, And on ðin offiz set agen.
?1387 T. Wimbledon Serm. (Corpus Cambr.) (1967) 83 (MED) How hast þou rewlid, þat is to seye, þe peple and þe office þat þou haddist to gouerne?
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 25031 (MED) Pilate was o gret officis [v.r. office], For ouer Iuus he was iustis.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 136 Ilkane of þam hase sum office in þe emperour courte.
1433 Rolls of Parl. IV. 476/2 No man that hath been in the seid Offices of Corouner.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 361 Sir Perimones prayde..to be his chyeff butler at the hygh feste. ‘I woll well..that ye have this offyce.’
a1500 (?c1425) Speculum Sacerdotale (1936) 149 (MED) Afterward he was in a grete offis as iuge or counseler.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. cxxxvv The duke of Yorke was discharged of the office of Regent.
1584 in Bannatyne Misc. (1827) I. 112 He was..admonissit..to desist from that office of a bischop.
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 38 He was taken into service in his court to a base office in his kitchen.
1672 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1820) VIII. 87/2 That the office of deputes in the justice-court be suppressed.
1724 J. Henley et al. tr. Pliny the Younger Epist. & Panegyrick I. vi. xv. 281 Priscus has a very questionable Understanding: Yet, he is in publick Offices, he is consulted, he is employ'd sometimes as a Judge.
1750 J. Mayhew Disc. Submission 42 He took all opportunities to encourage the papists and to promote them to the highest offices of honor and trust.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xlix. 185 I..do not esteem you the more for the high office you possess.
1822 J. Haggard Rep. Consistory Court 1 209 It is said, that it is..against the principle of these proceedings, that the Office of the Bishop should be promoted, instead of that of the Judge.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain I. ii. ix. 584 He avowed his purpose of throwing up..all the offices he held under government.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People Epil. 819 The claims of the Nonconformists were met..in 1871 by the abolition of all religious tests for admission to offices or degrees in the Universities.
1920 H. J. Laski Polit. Thought in Eng. iv. 130 He had attained to the highest office under Anne at an exceptionally early age; and his period of power had been distinguished.
1986 M. Hughes Dream Catcher iv. 60 I have held this office for just six years.
2002 Big Issue 17 June 6/4 The office of Black Rod—one of those bizarre offices on which our constitution is based.
b. As a mass noun without article: official position or employment, spec. that of a minister of state, or of a party forming a government; (also) tenure of such position. Frequently in to run for, seek, take, hold, leave, etc., office. Also in office, out of office. man of office: an officer or official.† of office [compare classical Latin ex officiō ex officio adv., Old French de son office (late 13th cent.; 1338 in Middle French as d'ofisse, 1508 as d'office)] : by virtue of office, officially (obsolete). Jack in (out of) office: see Jack n.2 Phrases 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > [noun]
wikec1000
officec1300
bishopricc1384
chairc1384
officeship?a1425
whilec1449
roomc1500
place1558
stallership1868
society > authority > office > holder of office > [noun]
man of officec1300
officerc1380
officec1440
office manc1459
officiate1500
officiary1505
official1555
gerent1576
officiary1587
office-bearer1593
stallera1627
incumbent1672
designator1683
corrector1690
office-holder1818
city manager1909
postholder1961
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 223 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 113 (MED) He cam to court and was in guod offiz [a1325 Corpus Cambr. offis] With þe erchebischop of Kaunterburi.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9600 To abbe men in offis Mid him þat of conseil were god & wis.
1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 21 (MED) What brother of yis gilde be chosen in to office, and refuse it, he shal payen iij pounde of wax.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 27170 Man of office or dignite..Werlds man or clerc.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) 6959 (MED) He kepyd þe kirk of office.
a1500 (?c1450) Bone Florence (1976) 1235 (MED) He gave londys to knyghtys kydde And newe men in offyce dydd.
1526 W. Bonde Rosary sig. Bvv A stranger and alyande, putte in offyce by the Romayns.
1586 in Juridical Rev. (1892) 4 119 My signet of office thereto affixt.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) i. ii. 207 Would I were Gently put out of Office, before I were forc'd out. View more context for this quotation
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 412 The rugged frowns and insolent rebuffs Of knaves in office.
1816 J. Pickering Vocab. U.S. 76 We sometimes see this word [sc. declension] used in our news-papers, in speaking of a person's declining to be a candidate for office.
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil II. iv. xiv. 306 ‘Peel ought to have taken office’, said Lord Marney.
1880 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times IV. lviii. 259 He had come into office at the head of a powerful party.
1912 M. Nicholson Hoosier Chron. 54 I'd go into their counties and spend every cent I've got fighting 'em if they ever ran for office again.
1923 R. Macaulay Told by Idiot iii. xv. 227 The Tories had been in office ten years.
1962 L. Namier Crossroads of Power xx. 227 In normal circumstances the king's authority and support were sufficient to keep the average group of politicians in office, but no government could survive for long if either the king or public opinion turned definitely against them.
1993 Times 25 Sept. 6/3 I do not think the previous leader wanted power; he wanted office.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > holder of office > [noun]
man of officec1300
officerc1380
officec1440
office manc1459
officiate1500
officiary1505
official1555
gerent1576
officiary1587
office-bearer1593
stallera1627
incumbent1672
designator1683
corrector1690
office-holder1818
city manager1909
postholder1961
c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) (1970) 85 He pleide so sweetly þat..alle þe helly offices lefte there besinesses [Fr. tous les infernaulx offices furent cessez].
a1456 (a1402) J. Trevisa tr. Gospel of Nicodemus (BL Add.) f. 108v Whane I herde þe worde of his heest, I qwaked for dred and alle my willed [read wikked] offyces [v.r. offys] with me wre astonyed.
a1600 ( Rec. Bluemantle Pursuivant (Julius) in C. L. Kingsford Eng. Hist. Lit. 15th Cent. (1913) 383 The Kinge of his grace gave vnto his office of armes his larges..Mr. Garter gave hym thankes in the name of all the office.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > holder of office > [noun] > collectively
office1604
officialdom1855
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 75 The insolence of office . View more context for this quotation
a1640 P. Massinger & J. Fletcher Very Woman iii. ii. 36 in P. Massinger 3 New Playes (1655) Now Mr. Office: What is the reason that your vigilant greatness..lock'd up from me The way to see my Mistress?
1765 J. Beattie Judgment of Paris 26 Coward Office..Sneaks secure in insolence of state.
1781 W. Cowper Charity 484 Except that Office clips it as it goes.
3. That which one ought to or has to do in the way of service; that which is required or expected.† b. The performance of, or an act of performing a duty, function, service, attendance, etc. Obsolete.† c. Duty towards others; moral obligation. Obsolete. rare.
a. A duty attaching to a person's station, position, or employment; a duty, service, or charge falling or assigned to one; a service or task to be performed; a person's business, function, or part.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > [noun]
debtc1330
officec1330
obliginga1382
dutyc1385
bondc1449
due?a1475
bounden duty1530
dueness1576
behoof1591
obligement1611
obligationa1616
ought1678
right1752
society > occupation and work > duties > [noun]
wikec1000
workOE
wikenc1175
misterc1225
curec1300
officec1330
ward1338
duty1375
parta1382
businessc1400
commissionc1450
besoigne1474
roomth?1504
function1533
exercitation1737
pidgin1807
job1841
biz1862
society > morality > duty or obligation > [noun] > one's duty, duties, or obligations > of one's office or position
officec1330
duty1375
trust1643
place1652
c1330 Lai le Freine in Smith Coll. Stud. Mod. Langs. (1929) 10 iii. 6 (MED) Þe porter of þe abbay..dede his ofice in þe clos.
1363 in C. Welch Hist. Pewterers of London (1902) I. 8 (MED) If any of the said Craftes be rebell..that they mowe nat duely performe her office..he shal abide in prisone by x dayes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 28366 I..did min office na-þe-lese Þat vn-despensed sang i messe.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 114 Ilkane wate what he schall do and bisily tentez till þaire officez.
1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton I v b Thou oughtest to be swete gracious and humble in thyn offyce or seruyse.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. lxi To thentent yt he worthely might be called a king, whose office is to rule & not to be ruled of other.
1561 G. Gylby tr. Cicero (title) An Epistle or letter of exhortation written in Latyne by Marcus Tullius Cicero, to his brother Quintus the Proconsull or Deputy of Asia, wherein the office of a Magistrate is connyngly and wisely described.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) ii. ii. 13 Doe you your office, or giue vp your Place. View more context for this quotation
1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 64 To make a Helm, is the office of a Shipwright, but to use it rightly of a Pilot.
1699 J. Jackson Let. in S. Pepys Diary & Corr. (1879) VI. 212 The Cardinal de Bouillon, appointed by the Pope to perform this office in his stead.
1724 J. Henley et al. tr. Pliny the Younger Epist. & Panegyrick I. iii. xvi. 143 You will allow a Consular-Man a few under Servants to attend him at his Table and Dressing; I alone will perform all those Offices.
a1756 E. Haywood New Present (1771) 252 Her next office..is to rub the stove and fire-irons.
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility I. viii. 87 A woman..might bring herself to submit to the offices of a nurse, for the sake of the provision and security of a wife. View more context for this quotation
1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley v. 73 He..had..taken upon him the preacher's office.
1878 W. E. Gladstone Homer viii. 111 They exercise the offices of the judge, the priest, the counsellor.
1901 J. Fiske Ess. Hist. & Lit. i. iii. 159 The several sects perform the office of censor morum over each other.
1953 E. Wilkins & E. Kaiser tr. R. Musil Man without Qualities I. xxiv. 115 The gentlemen and ladies of the highest society, by chatting with the learned specialists..and smiling upon the wives of high-financiers, were also carrying out an important, even though not precisely definable office.
1993 E. K. Sedgwick Tendencies 63 It's very common, of course, for some of them to have the office of representing nonconforming or nonreproductive sexualities to children.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > [noun]
theiningc888
servicea1225
hinehedea1300
officec1330
employment1563
c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) 3555 (MED) While Beues was in þat office, Þe kinges sone..A ȝede to Beues stable.
a1450 Rule St. Benet (Vesp.) (1902) 1432 (MED) Al sal cum into her hend Þat salbe in hir offece spend.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 38 (MED) Vices that rebounden vpon the subiectis..troublith the offices [v.r. office] and empeirith the condicions of all the estates of his people.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Kings x. 5 Whan the Quene of riche Arabia sawe all the wyszdome of Salomon..& the offyces of his ministers, and their garmentes..she wondred exceadingly.
1621 F. Quarles Hadassa sig. D2 We gaue command..That by the office of our Eunuchs Land, Queene Vashti should in state attended be.
1693 J. Dryden tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires iii. 41 At Rome (nor think me partial to the Poor) All Offices of ours are out of Door.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > [noun] > a duty or moral necessity
needOE
deedc1400
necessitya1500
office1534
work (also duty) of necessitya1602
incumbency?1608
remorsea1616
incumbence1684
call1704
commitment1837
calling1857
geis1965
1534 R. Whittington tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Tullyes Offyces i. sig. D.4 Honesty, that is to say the offyce & dutie of man.
4. † b. A bodily or mental function as operating; the proper activity of an organ or faculty. Obsolete.† c. spec. The function or action of defecating or urinating; excretion; an instance of this. Obsolete.See also house of office n. at house n.1 and int. Phrases 3b.
a. That which is done, or is intended or expected to be done, by a particular thing; that which anything is fitted to perform, or performs customarily; the function of anything. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > [noun] > proper operation or function
workOE
office1340
helpingc1400
servicea1475
use1509
function1537
working1643
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 50 (MED) Þe mouþ heþ tuo offices, huer-of þe on belongeþ to þe zuelȝ..Þe oþer zuo is in speche.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 41 (MED) The laste science..is Practique, whos office The vertu tryeth fro the vice.
c1450 J. Capgrave Solace of Pilgrims (Bodl. 423) (1911) 26 (MED) This feld seruyd to þis office..þer was þe usage to chese her consules.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 21v (MED) The brayn..Official it is seid, ffor it haþ þe office of felynge and stirynge.
a1500 (?c1440) J. Lydgate Horse, Goose & Sheep (Lansd.) 511 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 560 (MED) This was the meene tavoide first the stryves..To doon her office as natur hath hem wrouht.
1546 Bp. S. Gardiner Declar. True Articles 80 Then do you..offende in deuising the wordes (office and correlatiue) to signifie what fayth doth.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 320/2 It hath its name Cooler, from its Office, which is to cool the Hot Wort.
1712 J. Arbuthnot App. to John Bull Still in Senses iii The fatal Noose perform'd its Office, and with most strict Ligature, squeez'd the Blood into his Face.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 247 It sometimes happens, that when the animal is interrupted in performing the offices of exclusion, the young ones burst the shell within the parent's body.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice I. viii. 76 I hope you saw her petticoat, six inches deep in mud,..and the gown which had been let down to hide it, not doing its office . View more context for this quotation
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. xii. 266 It just does its office in barking at a Gaberlunzie like me.
1830 R. Knox tr. P. A. Béclard Elements Gen. Anat. 198 The office of the arteries is to lead the blood from the heart into all the parts of the body.
1851 H. Spencer Social Statics i. 58 Just so it is with a true morality... Its office is simply to expound the principles of moral health.
1906 W. M. Macintyre in Expositor Feb. 162 According to the Plotinist, mental prayer..has this office committed to it, to elevate the sense-life into the life of reason.
1971 J. Needham Sci. & Civilisation in China iii. 590 These ‘Pacific boom-lateens’..are believed to derive from a kind of sprit-sail..in which the upper sprit performs the office of a more or less aft-raking mast.
1988 P. Fussell Thank God for Atom Bomb (1990) 134 The anxious businessman will learn that in most of Southeast Asia,..presenting your business card with your left hand is an affront, every decent Moslem knowing the filthy, smelly offices you reserve that left hand for.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > part of body > [noun] > proper action of organ or faculty
officea1393
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 467 (MED) As it is in Phisique write Of livere, of lunge, of galle, of splen, Thei alle unto the herte ben Servantz, and ech in his office Entendeth to don him service.
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. i. pr. ii. 18 Sche say me..withouten office of tunge and al dowmb.
c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 52 (MED) The same day was restorid to hym the office of his tonge.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1623) iii. iv. 111 Whom I, with all the Office of my heart Intirely honour.
a1656 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) vi. 778 A certain young man, who wanted his armes..performed all things by the office of his feet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > defecation > [noun]
purgationa1387
shitting1386
officec1395
outpassinga1398
subduction?a1425
easementa1438
cuckingc1440
siegea1475
evacuation?1533
stool1541
egestion1547
dunging1558
purging1579
stooling1599
cackc1600
motion1602
dejection1605
excretion1640
exclusion1646
purgament1650
exoneration1651
disenteration1654
orduring1654
crapping1673
passage1681
seat1697
opening1797
defecation1825
excreting1849
poopc1890
movement1891
job1899
shit?1927
crap1937
dump1942
soiling1943
gick1959
jobbie1981
pooh1981
c1395 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 127 Membres of generacioun..maked been for bothe; That is to seye, for office and for ese Of engendrure.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 292 They..goe first to the house of office, and there purge their bodie.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 623 Washing themselves, as they doe also after the offices of Nature.
1652 in Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1877) II. 109 It is ordered that noe house of Office..shall stand within twentie foot of any high way.
1764 D. Garrick Let. 5 Aug. (1963) II. 422 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.
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XI xl. 123 The very clerks—those somewhat dirty springs Of office, or the House of Office.
1836 W. H. Sleeman Ramaseeana App. 238 He had quitted his party upon the urgent offices of nature, when he heard an outcry as of human voices.
5. A service or kindness done, or attention shown or given, towards anyone. Chiefly with qualification, as good office, kind office, office of kindness, etc. Now usually in plural. Also with adjective of the opposite kind, as ill, etc.: a disservice (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > [noun] > act of kindness
goodOE
loveOE
estdedea1325
bounty1330
benefice1340
benefit1377
while1382
whileness1382
officec1384
excellencec1385
goodshipa1393
kindnessc1400
benevolencec1425
benignityc1534
obligement1611
obligation1618
friendlinessa1633
benevolenta1639
beneficence1654
amability1655
benefactiona1662
knight-service1675
kindliness1883
humanity1985
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > harm, injury, or wrong > [noun] > action > a bad turn
shrewd turn1464
office1575
disservice1611
disoffice1624
evil turn1647
diskindness1678
bad turn1886
a shot in the eye1897
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) 2 Cor. ix. 12 The mynisterie of this office..aboundith by manye in doynge of thankingis to the Lord.
1575 Queen Elizabeth I in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. II. 278 Which we have hitherto forborne to graunt..for the evell offices whiche her other Secretary did there.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. ii. 137 Little office Will the hatefull commons perfourme for vs. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) i. i. 93 I would I could doe a good office betweene you. View more context for this quotation
1619 W. Sclater Expos. 1 Thess. (ii. 10) 147 Perhaps also neighbourly offices of kindnesse, and mercy sometimes passe from them.
1655 Sir M. Langdale in E. Nicholas Nicholas Papers (1897) III. 128 He suspectes father Talbot hath donne him some ill office.
1674 in O. Airy Essex Papers (1890) I. 222 I know..that..ye design of getting themselves into ye place will encourage divers to doe me spightfull Offices.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xv. viii. 259 When the Servant came to attend the Nephew..he, instead of accepting the kind Offices tendered him, insisted [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. II. xliv. 505 Those ill offices which his enemies..could employ against him.
1792 M. Wollstonecraft Vindic. Rights Woman vii. 288 Affection would rather make one choose to perform these offices, to spare the delicacy of a friend.
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility III. xiii. 263 I..am sure you will be too generous to do us any ill offices . View more context for this quotation
1877 W. Sparrow Serm. x. 128 Making men capable of mutual offices of kindness.
1885 Dict. National Biogr. I. 466/2 She [sc. Queen Anne] refused a mitre to Swift, as he professed to believe through the ill offices of his ‘mortal enemies’.
1887 A. Jessopp Arcady ii. 33 In return she gets some little kindly office done for her.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage lxx. 359 He got her slippers and took off her boots. It delighted him to perform menial offices.
1945 J. Colville Diary 1 Feb. in Fringes of Power (1985) 558 Journalism seems a possibility, and the kind offices of Lord Kemsley or Camrose might be solicited.
1971 H. Kissinger in White House Years (1979) xviii. 724 It is proposed that the precise details of Dr. Kissinger's trip..be discussed through the good offices of President Yahya Khan.
2001 Independent 13 Aug. ii. 2/1 Despite..the good offices of the churches, it is clear that the building of mutual respect and trust between the two communities has still a very long way to go.
6.
a. A room, set of rooms, or building used as a place of business for non-manual work; a room or department for clerical or administrative work. Also (in extended use): the staff of such a room, department, etc.The general sense of ‘a place of business’ has numerous specific applications, as: the administrative and accounting centre (formerly, the counting house) of a business or other establishment; the local centre of a larger business or organization (frequently preceded by the name of the area it serves or in which it is located, as New York office, Swansea office, etc.); the consulting rooms of a professional person; a department in which a particular aspect of a larger business is conducted, or an establishment which provides a particular service (frequently with preceding word, as booking office, box office, dead letter office, goods office, inquiry office, insurance office, lost property office, post office, telegraph office, ticket office, etc.); the place of business of a particular official or set of officials (originally the court of an ecclesiastical official), as assay office, police office, sherrif's office, superintendent's office, surveyor's office, town clerk's office, etc. For established compounds see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > office > [noun]
counterc1386
officec1405
counting-house?1608
kutcheri1610
bureau1702
counting-room1712
dufter1791
cabin1979
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Friar's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 277 I wol han .xij. pens..Or I wol somne hir vn to our office.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 363 Offyce, or place of offyce, officina.
1451 in Archaeologia Aeliana (1859) 3 185 (MED) In the ixe. Rolle in the office of the Kynges Remembrauncer more pleinlie it is conteigned.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 948/1 Whether she was euer detected to the office of William Smith late Byshop of Lyncolne.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xliii. xvi. 1166 The Censours..shut up and locked all the offices of the Chauncerie.
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Chron. xxiv. 11 At what time the chest was brought vnto the kings office . View more context for this quotation
1633 P. Massinger New Way to pay Old Debts iv. iii. sig. K A debt, to which My vowes in that high office registred, Are faithfull witnesses.
1678 in C. R. Lounsbury Illustr. Gloss. Early Southern Archit. & Landscape (1994) 245 To be divided for an office for the Clerke.
1711 Boston News-let. 19 Nov. 2/2 If any Person or Persons in whose Custody the aforesaid things or any of them are, will return them, or if any one will discover where the same are to the said Edward Weaver, at his Office, at the House of Mr. Jabez Negus near King-Street in Boston, they shall be satisfyed to content.
1735 A. Pope Satires of Donne ii, in Wks. II. 71 His Office keeps your Parchment-Fates entire.
1748 W. Brownrigg Art of making Common Salt 56 An office for his majesty's salt officers, and a dwelling house for the salt boilers.
1765 G. G. Beekman Let. (1956) I. 480 They took her at all Risques as youl find by the Policy Inclosed which I never Saw untill Mr. Townsend and myself went to the Office for it this day.
1819 J. Keats Let. to Reynolds 22 Sept. in Ld. Houghton Life (1848) II. 26 There will be some of the family waiting for you at the coach-office.
1833 Act 3 & 4 William IV c. 42 §20 The Sheriff of each County..shall..name..a sufficient Deputy, who shall..have an Office within One Mile of the Inner Temple Hall, for the Receipt of Writs [etc.].
1849 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xxxvi. 347 The ‘Pall Mall Gazette’ had its offices..in Catherine Street.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xviii. 131 The offices [of the East India Company] which stood on a very small part of the ground which the present offices cover.
1885 Law Times Rep. 53 459/1 Griffith, having taken offices a few doors off, also carried on the business of a solicitor.
1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train i. i. 5 Faces would peer..through the window of his office.
1945 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. I. 503 An English lawyer, whether barrister or solicitor, never has an office, but always chambers.
1958 Times 19 Mar. 7/4 President Nasser's permanent Afro-Asian guests—that Cairo raggle-taggle ranging from the permanent representatives of the Algerian National Liberation Front on the one hand to the office of the Deputy Imam of Oman on the other.
1975 M. Duke Death of Holy Murderer viii. 108 This one was made out at a private office—Office is American for Surgery.
1995 New Yorker 25 Dec. 69/2 The joke around the office is that Jillian Crowe gave me my current job on the celeb beat after she heard that I was living with a model named Phil.
2001 Nat. Health Sept. 28/1 His business partner designed their offices according to their Ayurvedic doshas.
b. (Now with capital initial.) With modifying adjective or attributive noun, as Colonial, Foreign, Home, War, etc.: the building, set of rooms, etc., in which the business of the specified department of government administration is carried on; (also) the staff of such a department, esp. the responsible head and the senior officials; the department itself. Also occasionally with defining phrase, as Office of Fair Trading, Office of Works, etc.The number and names of these departments, agencies, etc., change from time to time and place to place. Many of those represented in the quotation paragraph are now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > office > [noun] > of a department of works
Office of Works1880
1435 Petition (P.R.O.) 130. 6460A John Duc of Bedford..Admirall of England in the office of þe admiralte in the Countees of Kent, Sussex, [etc.].
1469 in W. P. Ellis & H. E. Salter Liber Albus Civitatis Oxoniensis (1909) 79 (MED) The seale of the office of the Mayralte of the towne of Oxford.
1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas at Admiraltie The place where the Admirals office is kept.
1642 C. Vernon Considerations Excheqver 18 (margin) The long Writ called the Prerogative Writ, out of the Treasurers Remembrancers Office, under the Teste of the chiefe Baron.
1698 Mem. E. Ludlow II. 503 An Order given to the Excise-Office for satisfying an old Debt.
1705 Boston News-let. 9 Apr. 2/2 And any person in Town or Country who have said Wil or Papers, are desire to bring them unto the Office of Probates in Boston.
1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) 599 A List of the Officers of the Admiralty-Office.
1776 J. Bentham Fragm. on Govt. iii. §5. 99 By dispensatorial power I mean as well that which is exercised by the Board of Treasury, as those others which are executed in the several offices styled with us the War Office [etc.].
1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 116 (London—Public Buildings) Excise Office 1769 State-Paper Offices, St. James's Park.
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. iii. viii. 713 Officers of the Commissariat..render directly to the Audit Office..accounts of the whole of their cash and store transactions.
1880 E. W. Hamilton Diary 11 Sept. (1972) I. 49 His [sc. W. P. Adam's] place will have to be filled up at the Office of Works.
1936 Discovery July 199/1 A change in the Office of Works which archaeologists cannot but view with regret.
1948 Assessment of Men (U.S. Office of Strategic Services) 3 A number of psychologists and psychiatrists attempted to assess the merits of men and women recruited for the Office of Strategic Services.
1986 M. Berlins Law & You (1988) 353/1 In deciding whether to grant you a licence, the Office of Fair Trading will have to consider whether you are fit to have one.
2002 Guardian 16 Jan. i. 9/2 The Home Office classified him as an IDOM, a prisoner in denial of murder.
c. Roman Catholic Church. In full Holy Office. The department of the Roman Catholic Church responsible for the administration of the ecclesiastical court of final appeal in heresy trials. Now historical.Formed in 1542 as part of the Inquisition, it was renamed the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1965. Cf. inquisition n. 3a.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > ecclesiastical discipline > court > papal court (Inquisition) > [noun]
inquisition1502
Spanish Inquisition1560
faith-press1624
Holy Office1642
1642 J. Howell Forraine Travell x. 131 A Biscayner is capable to be a Cavalier of any of the three habits without any scrutiny to be made of the Office, whether he be, limpio de la sangre de los Moros, that is cleare of the bloud of the Moores or no.
1658 Pilgrim's Bk. (MS Venerable Eng. Coll., Rome) 3 They abiured their Heresy bublikly [sic] before the Commissary of the holy office.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Inquisition The Holy Office, an Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction established in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 119/2 The deputation of the nobless, which they call the junto of the holy office.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. v. 161 A true instrument of arrestation from the Holy Office.
1826 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 20 76 The whole..is then transferred by the Inquisitors to Theologians, Qualificators of the Holy Office.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain I. ii. iii. 426 A platform was raised..on which were ranged the seats of the inquisitors, emblazoned with the arms of the Holy Office.
1887 F. M. Crawford Saracinesca III. xxxiv. 299 I would just as soon give you up to the Holy Office as not.
1912 Catholic Encycl. XIII. 137/2 The Holy Office..has a number of consultors, chosen from among the most esteemed and learned prelates and religious.
1937 Dict. National Biogr. 1922–30 at Merry del Val He was, under Benedict XV and Pius XI, secretary of the Holy Office.
1990 Bull. Hispanic Stud. 67 412/1 The extraordinary phenomenon of the chuetas who managed to live without major interference from the Office..until 1677, when greed and popular pressure broke their social influence.
d. The company or corporation established in a particular place of business, as an insurance company, etc.Originally an extended use of 6a. Cf. post office n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > business affairs > a business or company > [noun]
company1532
society1623
office1647
Co1679
concern1681
business1728
establishment1832
outfit1833
business administration1852
customer relations1920
enterprise1930
label1968
MNC1971
1647 W. Bridge Saints Hiding-place 17 But there is an Insuring-Office set up in the Gospel, as to the venture of our eternities.
1693 W. Leybourn Panarithmologia in C. Walford Insur. Cycl. I. 487 Suppose you ship £300 of goods for Jamaica..you go to the Assu. Office behind the Royal Exchange in Lond., and there acquaint the clerk you will insure for £200 or £250, or, if you will, the whole £300..upon such ship for so much goods as you have on board.
1732 B. Franklin Proposals & Queries to be asked Junto in Papers (1959) I. 260 Would not an Office of Insurance for Servants be of Service, and what Methods are proper for the erecting such an Office?
1782 (title) The Phœnix Fire Office.
1816 J. Austen Emma II. xvii. 324 There are advertising offices, and..by applying to them I should have no doubt of very soon meeting with something that would do. View more context for this quotation
1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law v. 29 The tenant's..insuring in an office..not authorized by his lease.
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations II. xii. 204 A large Danish sun or star hanging round his neck by a blue ribbon..had given him the appearance of being insured in some extraordinary Fire Office.
1870 T. R. Sprague in Jrnl. Inst. Actuaries 16 77 The Office assures to him..a sum of money payable in certain contingencies.
1879 J. J. Ridge Temperance Primer 129 Life assurance offices have found that the average length of life of total abstainers is greater than that of drinkers of alcohol.
1883 Chambers's Encycl. V. 601 Proprietary Companies being those offices possessing a capital the property of the partners. Mutual Offices, where the members themselves constitute the company.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 672/2 The office is bound by the policy so long as the premiums are duly paid.
1959 Jrnl. Inst. Actuaries 85 212 Any office which paid no commission.
1985 C. Marshall Life Assurance Handbk. i. 16 Some offices allow the policyholder to increase his sum assured regularly, in line with inflation, without medical evidence.
e. Aeronautics slang. The cockpit of an aircraft. Cf. pulpit n. 3e.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > [noun] > fuselage > cockpit or flight deck
cockpit1909
office1917
flight deck1924
pulpit1933
1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 123 I strapped our baggage, some new gramophone records, and myself into the observer's office.
1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 161 I withdraw into ‘the office’, otherwise the observer's cockpit.
1918 Blackwood's Mag. Oct. 526/2 ‘Wouf!’—a deafening crash, and the old bus shakes violently as I put my head into the office.
1934 V. M. Yeates Winged Victory iv. 34 He put his head in the office and flew by the instruments.
1941 Life 24 Mar. 85/1 In the slang of the Royal Air Force man, the cockpit of his plane is the ‘pulpit’ or ‘office’, the glass covering over it the ‘greenhouse’.
1966 New Statesman 13 May 687/2 ‘Up in the office they too knew it.’ ‘The office? You mean the flight deck?’ ‘Just that. No more. No less. The office.’
7.
a. In plural (formerly also occasionally in singular). The parts of a house, or buildings attached to a house, specially devoted to household work or service, or to storage, etc.; esp. the kitchen and rooms connected with it, as pantry, scullery, cellars, laundry, etc.; (also) the stables, outhouses, barns, and cowsheds of a farm.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > outhouse(s) > [noun]
little houseOE
outhouse1301
housingc1384
house of officec1405
officesa1422
easement?a1425
shed1457
outhousing1583
outbuilding1600
outroom1602
outoffice1630
office-house1632
out-hut1856
shedding1883
nushnik1945
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > utility rooms
house of officec1405
officesa1422
sculleryc1440
office-house1632
porch1878
utility room1953
utility area1969
utility1976
c1395 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 264 Al the paleys put was in array..Houses of office stuffed with plentee.]
a1422 Petition (P.R.O.) 117. 5842 (MED) Abbeyes, Priories, hospitals, chaunteries and chappels, chaces, parkes, offices, milnes, weres, [etc.].
1454 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1837) VI. 227 (MED) Thoffice of þe spicery, v persones.
c1475 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 75 (MED) Office of sellar within the Kinges household hath a sergeaunt that shall receive all the wynes.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lxxiiij Pitcher house, Larder and Poultrie, and all other offices large and faire.
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 36 The Kitchin or other Offices and Selleridge.
1717 in F. W. Steer Farm & Cottage Inventories Mid-Essex 1635–1749 (1969) 246 The brewhouse—The office & utensills, £7.55.
1734 in C. R. Lounsbury Illustr. Gloss. Early Southern Archit. & Landscape (1994) 245 Four rooms on a floor... Very good underground Offices and Pump.
1798 T. Jones Memoirs (1951) 41 [The] Coachman had a little Office..in which he had a Store of Oats for his Horses & Wine..for his Passengers.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 52 The offices are also improved..forming generally a square behind the dwelling-house, with the dunghill or straw-yard in the center.
1838 T. Carlyle Coll. Lett. (1985) X. 23 The house with garden, offices, woods, the cow-park.
1846 C. G. F. Gore Sketches Eng. Char. I. 128 As he passed by the areas of the fashionable squares, and imbibed the aroma of stews and ragoûts issuing from the offices.
1881 J. Russell Haigs of Bemersyde Introd. 7 The usual outbuildings and Offices which such fortified places contained.
1897 G. Patterson Notes Dial. People Newfoundland 203 A large house or habitation, but including all its appurtenances, as offices, courtyards, etc.
1957 E. E. Evans Irish Folk Ways (1967) viii. 112 Only in planted areas does one find old examples of planned ‘courtyard farms’ where the house and offices enclose a square or rectangular yard.
1990 Country Life 24 May 2 (advt.) 4 reception rooms, kitchen and domestic offices, 7 bedrooms, 2 dressing rooms, 4 bathrooms.
b. In singular or plural. A privy, a lavatory. In later use frequently as usual offices. Cf. ease n. 9b. Now somewhat archaic or euphemistic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun]
gongOE
privy?c1225
room-housec1275
chamber foreignc1300
wardrobea1325
privy chamberc1325
foreignc1390
siegec1400
stool1410
jakes1432
house of easementa1438
kocayc1440
siege-hole1440
siege-house1440
privy house1463
withdraught1493
draught1530
shield1535
bench-hole1542
common house1542
stool1542
jakes house1547
boggard1552
house of office?1560
purging place1577
little house1579
issue1588
Ajax1596
draught-house1597
private1600
necessary house1612
vault1617
longhouse1622
latrine1623
necessary1633
commonsa1641
gingerbread officea1643
boghouse1644
cloaca1645
passage-house1646
retreat1653
shithouse1659
closet of ease1662
garderobe1680
backside1704
office1727
bog?1731
house of ease1734
cuz-john1735
easing-chair1771
backhouse1800
outhouse1819
netty1825
petty1848
seat of ease1850
closet1869
bathroom1883
crapper1927
lat1927
shouse1941
biffy1942
shitholec1947
toot1965
shitter1967
woodshed1974
1727 (title) The Grand Mystery..proposals for erecting 500 Publick Offices of Ease in London and Westminster.
1871 E. Jenkins Ginx's Baby (1879) i. 9 The forty-five big and little lodgers in the house were provided with a single office in the corner of the yard.
1890 in P. Horn Village Educ. in 19th Cent. Oxfordshire (1979) 153 The boys' offices should be provided with doors.
1909 Daily Graphic 26 July 16/1 (advt.) Three reception, four bedrooms, kitchen, and usual offices.
1948 J. Cannan Little I Understood ix. 124 Mildred had been too shy when Adam, indicating a door, had said, ‘“The usual offices”..,’ to open the door and look in.
1951 N. Marsh Opening Night ix. 220 I went to the usual office at the end of the passage.
1957 J. Braine Room at Top i. 13 The bathroom's to the right and the usual offices next to it.
1980 W. Golding Rites of Passage i. 6 Aft of the lobby..is the dining saloon for the passengers with the offices of necessity on either side of it.
8. Law. Short for inquest of office: see inquest n. 1b(a). An official inquest or inquiry concerning any matter that entitles the Crown to the possession of lands or chattels. to find (also †take, †return) an office: to return a verdict showing that the Crown is thus entitled. office found: a verdict having this effect. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > trying or hearing of cause > [noun] > judicial inquiry > concerning king's right to property
office1432
inquest of office1768
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or act as judge [verb (intransitive)] > decide entitling king to property
to find (also take, return) an office1509–10
1432 Petition (P.R.O.) 26. 1259 Of the whiche Maner the seyd Oratrice..be an Offyce was put out.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 57 (MED) Alle þat..turbelyn þe ordynaryes and here offycerys..þat þe offyce & þe iugement is wrongefully lettyd.
1472–3 Rolls of Parl. VI. 25/2 All Offices founden of the premisses or of any of theym..be..voide.
1509–10 Act 1 Hen. VIII c. 8 Diverse..have been..disherited by escheatours and commyssyoners causyng untrue offices to be founden.
1568 W. Staunford Exposicion of Kinges Prerogative 60 By the comon law before the making of these statutes [34 Edw.III c. 14, 36 Edw.III c. 13] a man had no other remedy to avoid a false office but onely his peticion.
1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Zz2/1 Office..doth signifie..also an Inquisition made to the Kings vse of any thing by vertue of his office who inquireth. And therefore wee oftentimes reade of an office found, which is nothing but such a thing found by Inquisition made ex officio.
a1647 T. Habington Surv. Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) (1895) I. iii. 531 Bewdley..became..the ioynter of hys wydowe..as was found by an offyce after her descesse.
1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. xvii. 259 If they find the treason or felony..of the party accused..the king is thereupon, by virtue of this office found, intitled to have his forfeitures.
1877 W. H. Burroughs On Taxation 277 There may be a forfeiture without such office found.
1977 J. Burke Jowitt's Dict. Eng. Law (ed. 2) I. 280/1 If the Crown claimed the land of an idiot, the person had first to be found an idiot by office.
1977 J. Burke Jowitt's Dict. Eng. Law (ed. 2) II. 1278/2 Office found, the decision of an inquest of office..to the effect that the Crown was entitled to the lands or chattels in question.
9. A ceremonial duty or service; a religious or social observance; esp. the rite or rites due to the dead, as the preparation of a corpse for burial, the performance of funeral obsequies, etc. (now chiefly in last offices).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > obsequies > [noun]
officec1300
exequy1382
obsequyc1385
exequy1389
mortuaryc1450
funeral1513
obit1525
funeral honoursa1535
last offices1535
justments1648
pompe funèbre1934
society > morality > duty or obligation > [noun] > a duty or moral necessity > a ceremonial duty
office1535
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [noun] > a habit or practice > of a formal kind
observancea1250
rite?a1475
office1535
ritual1611
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Chron. xxix. D Golde (gaue he him)..for all maner of vessels of euery offyce.
1582 in Bible (Rheims) John xii. (margin) The deuout offices of balming and anointing the dead bodies.
1618 S. Rowlands Sacred Memorie 37 To show their loue in this last office done To a dead friend.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. vii. §10 The other great offices wherein their Religion did so much consist, viz. Sacrifices, distinction of meats, observation of Festivals, circumcision, and such like.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 135. ¶1 An eminent Person..us'd in his private Offices of Devotion, to give Thanks to Heaven that he was Born a Frenchman.
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel III. xi. 318 I..will be first to render thee the decent offices due to the dead.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xxviii. 136 If ever Captain Ahab should be tranquilly laid out..then, whoever should do that last office for the dead, would find a birth-mark on him from crown to sole.
1895 T. Hardy Jude vi. xi. 514 A woman who performed the last necessary offices for the poorer dead.
1956 Life 2 Apr. 86/2 We read of..dioceses where the surviving clergy could scarcely perform the last offices for their flocks and for their brethren.
1991 J. Spottiswoode Undertaken with Love 79 Leaving Joy to help Miss Prescott with what are called the last offices (Joy is also a trained nurse) Alan and I went back to the house.
a. A tract of land used for hunting; a keeper's beat. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > gamekeeping > [noun] > keeper's beat
office1617
1617 N. Assheton Jrnl. (1848) 60 All hunt in James Whitendales office.
b. In extended use: the place in which a person is usually to be found. slang. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > place of resort > [noun] > usual haunt
reseta1325
hauntc1330
walka1425
neighbourhood1637
topic1650
office1699
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew His Office, any Man's ordinary Haunt, or Plying-place, be it Tavern, Ale-house, Gaming-house.
11. slang. A hint, signal, or private intimation; esp. in to give (or take) the office.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > act or do [verb (intransitive)] > act as indicated or suggested
to give (or take) the office1803
to do that (small, etc.) thing1866
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > understand [phrase] > and act
to give (or take) the office1803
society > communication > information > action of informing > give (information) [verb (transitive)] > inform (a person) > specially or privately
office1812
to give (or take) the office1890
tip1891
1803 Sporting Mag. 21 327 Giving the office—is when you suffer any person, who may stand behind your chair, to look over your hand.
1811 Lexicon Balatronicum (at cited word) To give the office; to give information, or make signs to the officers to take a thief.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 193 Office, a hint, signal or private intimation..to take the office, is to understand and profit by the hint given.
1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk II. 258 Playing us foul, and giving the office to the Philistines.
1885 O. Allan Sinbad the Sailor 22 I ‘took the office’ and I took my hook.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xiv Ride about the country till I give you the office.
1897 Outing 30 112/2 The dropping of the hands is called ‘giving the office’ to start [a four-horse coach].
1927 E. Wallace Feathered Serpent xvi. 211 We caught him with the goods... Somebody gave us the office, and Sweeny came down from Scotland Yard.
1958 J. Hislop From Start to Finish x. 107 The ordinary type of horse, who waits until he is given the ‘office’ (indication to go) from his jockey.
1973 N. Marsh Black as he's Painted ix. 228 When you get the office from Mr Fox, come out here.
Compounds
C1. General attributive (in senses 1, 2, 3, or 6).† office-fellow n. Obsolete
office badge n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > symbol of office or authority > [noun]
ensigna1522
ensignment1567
office badge1593
fascesa1625
insignia1648
insigne1773
1593 G. Peele Honovr of Garter sig. B4v His office badge, Was a black rod whereof he tooke his name.
1594 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 i. ii. 25 I dreamt that this my staffe mine Office badge in Court, Was broke in two.
1998 Re: SCA Heraldry- Chatelaine/hospitilers? in rec.org.sca (Usenet newsgroup) 20 Apr. It is just as easy to learn that the chatelaine uses the laurel wreath and/or the local arms as to learn that the chatelaine uses some new office badge.
office bell n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > canonical hours > [noun] > one of > service at > bell indicating
office bell1839
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby ii. 8 Noggs nodded; and as he nodded, there came a ring at the office bell.
1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk II. 71 A brass plate with ‘office-bell’ upon it.
1927 Jrnl. Educ. Sociol. 1 151 Often a fourth grade room is located on the fourth floor near the office. This room then may supply the office with messengers and monitors at call of the office bell.
1989 Electronics Projects (2006) VI. 59 Office Bell With In/Out Indicator.
office-book n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > book (general) > breviary or office book > [noun]
houra1250
journal1355
diurnal?a1550
breviary1611
horary1631
office-book1709
horologium1724
brevial1847
horae1875
hour-book1896
1709 J. Addison Let. 14 Dec. (1941) 197 I am afraid..it will be necessary to have Copys of the Office Books during his Lordships Administration.
1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest III. xi. 30 The two chief ministers of the funeral ceremony..bearing their office-books in their hands.
1954 O. Chadwick Founding of Cuddesdon v. 133 King..continued to use the office-book in the form in which Liddon had revised it..in 1858.
office building n.
ΚΠ
1805 ‘C. Caustic’ Democracy Unveiled iii. 85 Thus it was said, that the war office buildings were purposely set on fire by Mr. Wolcott.]
1840 Niles' Reg. 23 May 182/1 The Free Trader office building has been crushed in and much shattered.
1924 R. Graves Mock Beggar Hall 62 I was aware that during the war Mock-Beggar Hall had been used as a Government office-building.
1993 Home Sept. 100/3 As I wanted the place to have the flavor of an office building, I chose a window treatment that said emphatically, ‘This is not a house’.
office chair n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > symbol of office or authority > [noun] > seat of office or authority
seldc825
stoolc897
high settlec950
seatc1175
benchc1330
stool1390
chair1393
stall1399
estatea1475
chair of state1498
statea1500
office chaira1715
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > other chairs
farthingale chair1552
side chair1582
high chair1609
scroll chair1614
Turkey chair1683
curule chair1695
reading chair1745
rush-bottom1754
conversation-chair1793
Windsor tub1800
Trafalgar chair1808
beehive-chair1816
nursing chair1826
Hitchcockc1828
toilet seat1829
kangaroo1834
prie-dieu1838
tub-chair1839
barrel-chair1850
Cromwell chair1868
office chair1874
swivel-chair1885
steamer-chair1886
suggan chair1888
lawn chair1895
saddle seat1895
Bombay chair1896
veranda-chair1902
X chair1904
Yorkshire chair1906
three legs and a swinger1916
saddlebag1919
riempie stool1933
gaspipe chair1934
slipper chair1938
Eames chair1946
contour chair1948
sling-back1948
sling chair1957
booster chair1960
booster seat1967
beanbag1969
sack chair1970
papasan1980
Muskoka chair1987
a1715 W. Wycherley Posthumous Wks. (1728) 168 How many Sots have had the Luck to wear A Chain of Gold, and fill the Office-Chair!
1874 ‘H. Churton’ Toinette xl. 404 The old surgeon laid down his pen..and turned his office-chair round toward his visitor.
1990 D. Shekerjian Uncommon Genius vi. vii. 111 Lerner, sitting on the very edge of his office chair, his erect back a testament to his long-standing commitment to yoga.
office clerk n.
ΚΠ
1807 W. H. Ireland Stultifera Navis 46 Your upright judges, office clerks..Your jailors; nay, the hangman too Is venal and must have his due.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch III. lvi. 253 The vision of himself as liable to be ranked with office-clerks.
1989 T. Parker Place called Bird xii. 149 I worked first as an office clerk, then with a company which wholesaled goods.
office desk n.
ΚΠ
1778 Williamson's Liverpool Advertiser 24 July To be Sold..The office desks, stools, book-presses and fixtures.
1852 T. Carlyle Crit. & Misc. Ess. 402/2 All the time he could steal from the office-desk was employed in prosecuting Latin and Greek, in which he felt himself still imperfect.
1907 G. B. Shaw John Bull's Other Island i. 3 Against the right hand wall is a filing cabinet,..and, nearer, a tall office desk and stool for one person.
2001 Wall St. Jrnl. 17 Jan. b5/2 Some people keep a box at their office desk to wipe their hands.
office door n.
ΚΠ
1592 T. Kyd Spanish Trag. iii. sig. F3 Wel, thou art euen the meriest peece of mans flesh that ere gronde at my office doore.
1607 Dobsons Drie Bobbes x. 77, sig.L She attended there before the Chauncery office doore, from halfe an houre past seauen in the morning, vntill almost twelue, when the Court rose and went to dinner.
1715 Boston News-let. 11 Apr. 2/2 A fair Alphabetical List..hung up at the Office Door, would soon resolve any Person.
1863 ‘E. Kirke’ My Southern Friends xxiii. 235 A short rap came at the office door.
1991 H. Rheingold Virtual Reality i. i. 36 Pixel-planes 4 made it possible for me to stroll down a virtual hallway in which I could discern the texture of the ceiling and the light diffusion through an open office door.
office drawing n.
ΚΠ
1855 Ecclesiologist 16 294 Mr. Slater sends an office-drawing..of a projected cathedral for South Australia.
1996 G. Worsley in J. Harris & M. Snodin Sir William Chambers (Cortauld Instit.) xv. 186/1 While the drawings of his great rival, Robert Adam, were bought as one vast lot by Sir John Soane, Chambers's office drawings have been scattered.
2000 R. Twombly & N. G. Menocal Louis Sullivan 171/1 On 27 May 1918, Sullivan placed his office drawings and other records in storage.
office duty n.
ΚΠ
1672 J. Owen Disc. Evangelical Love 221 If it be not part of their Office-Duty, to walk over them.
a1885 G. B. McClellan Own Story (1887) xxxii. 534 He said that he was so much occupied with office-duty that it was impossible for him to leave.
1990 H. Crews Body ii. 21 An advertisement for a secretary for general office duty in a strength gymnasium.
office equipment n.
ΚΠ
1907 Publ. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 10 504 The whole makes a rather ornamental, certainly not an objectionable, addition to the office equipment of the doctor.
1962 D. Francis Dead Cert x. 115 It had once been an elegant room and even the office equipment could not entirely spoil its proportions.
2001 Contact May 37/1 At this point, ‘office equipment’ was already the third biggest sector of the Annual Hannover Fair.
office expenses n.
ΚΠ
1839 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 1 555 Expenditure in the same year: total, 14,126l., viz., salaries, 765l.;..office expenses, 439l.; investment in funds, 276l.
1887 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. to Publishers (1967) 233 On first 10,000, we deduct $5,000 office expenses and $1750 for author.
1972 P. Griffin A-Z Office Guide 86 They [sc. IOUs] should not be allowed to build up to a point when cash becomes short for office expenses.
ΚΠ
1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties iii. f. 132 As yet Aquilius, my officefelowe, & familiar, had not set forth the cases, that should bee counted couine.
office furniture n.
ΚΠ
1843 C. F. Briggs Bankrupt Stories ii. v. 190 The denizens of Wall Street care very little for office furniture.
1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 4 Apr. 4/4 (advt.) We are selling lots of office furniture these days.
1998 High Country News 11 May 2/2 In order to save on office furniture, we use church tables with folding legs.
office job n.
ΚΠ
1923 H. Crane Let. 26 Oct. (1965) 153 My mind is divided between them and an office job.
1988 Bella 4 Apr. 33/3 She now has an office job at her old police station.
office manager n.
ΚΠ
1866 Western Union Telegraph Company, Rules, Regulations & Instr. 41 For information in relation to Rates of Tariff, and other matters not fully understood, Office Managers will apply to their District Superintendent.
1977 Radio Times 5 Nov. 18/1 (advt.) In our experience, office managers only worry about copiers if they go wrong.
office name n.
ΚΠ
1928 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 12 May 36/3 At least eight different writers..had been offering their comments under that name [sc. Richard Roe]—‘office names’ they are called in the profession.
1992 Gibbons Stamp Monthly Mar. 66/1 These handstamps, with the office name at the top and ‘Post/Office’ at foot were first introduced in 1985.
office paper n.
ΚΠ
1711 J. Addison Let. 261 I do not hear anything more of the Impeachment, but should it come on and any of our Office-papers be asked for, what shall I say.
1850 C. Dickens David Copperfield xxxviii. 394 The office-papers we placed on one side, and the private papers (which were not numerous) on the other.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xxxviii. 175 I've seen those sketches of yours and they're on office-paper.
2001 Times 12 Sept. (Terror in Amer. Suppl.) 2/5 Thousands of pieces of office paper were carried on the gusting wind to Brooklyn about three miles away.
office patient n.
ΚΠ
1858 T. S. Arthur Friends & Neighbours 203 The doctor utters a half-impatient exclamation; but the wife expresses only thankfulness that it is an office patient.
1897 R. M. Stuart Simpkinsville 94 Even the doctors..are wont to receive their ‘office patients’ in this comfortable fashion.
1997 G. W. Carter J. K. Lasser's Taxes made Easy v. 95 Half of the lab work comes from his office patients and half comes from hospital consultations.
office pen n.
ΚΠ
1762 J. Woodforde Diary 3 Dec. in Woodforde at Oxf. (1969) 97 For an Hundred of Pens... N.B. They are what he called Office Pens, viz, the best of any.
1850 C. Dickens David Copperfield xliii. 443 Skewered through..with office-pens, and bound hand and foot with red tape.
2000 Re: Making Bread from Grain in misc.survivalism (Usenet newsgroup) 7 Oct. Sometimes employees will take office pens home, maybe a bit of blank photocopy paper, or some paper clips.
office politics n.
ΚΠ
1917 H. Grant Two Sides of Atlantic 45 This is known in the States as ‘office-politics’.
1961 ‘J. Wyndham’ Consider her Ways 216 Office politics, very likely... Many a young man's gifts are stunted by them.
2000 Independent 25 Oct. i. 12/1 A seductive 21st-century view of replacing office politics and commuting with modems, country views and roses around the door was dealt a severe blow yesterday.
office routine n.
ΚΠ
1858 A. Trollope Three Clerks I. xii. 247 All office routine had, during this week, been broken through by the immense importance of the ceremony which was going on.
1911 W. Owen Let. 25 Apr. (1967) 70 I am not too young to..turn to Office Routine, Customs, Revenues.
1999 J. Boyle Hero of Underworld 63 Friday night revellers... Come Monday morning, most would tighten the stays of their emotional corsets and return to a prim, mundane office routine.
office staff n.
ΚΠ
1851 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 15 64 The office-staff, originally employed, consisted of 91 clerks and 5 other persons.
1924 R. Graves Mock Beggar Hall 70 He suffered from delusions towards the finish, Undertook business far beyond his means And drove the office-staff nearly distracted.
1975 M. Babson There must be Some Mistake xviii. 150 The office staff and management structure functioned as a self-sufficient entity.
office stool n.
ΚΠ
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers liv. 591 Wilkins Flasher, Esquire, was balancing himself on two legs of an office stool.
1907 G. B. Shaw John Bull's Other Island i. 13 He seats himself on the office stool, and tilts it back.
1989 A. Rush Adam's Paradise (BNC) 116 Ruth occupied herself with getting settled on the office stool.
office window n.
ΚΠ
1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. viii. sig. C5 He talkes Statutes as fiercely, as if he had mooted seuen yeers in the Inns of Court; when all his skill is stucke in his girdle, or in his office window.
1777 Proc. Old Bailey 10 Sept. 343/1 I accidentally looked out of the office window, and saw a very suspicious fellow.
1929 Times 2 Jan. 15/5 The car had been honking underneath my office window for some time.
2003 W. Mazzarella Shoveling Smoke v. 176 Silence descended as the creative team gazed out of the office window.
office work n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > office or clerical work
office worka1678
desk1796
stool1836
desk-work1864
pencil-pushing1883
pen-pushing1906
a1678 J. Westley in E. Calamy Continuation of Acct. of Ministers Ejected (1727) I. 441 They are not a People that are fit Subjects, for me to exercise Office-work among them.
a1730 J. Danforth in Proc. Amer. Antiquarian Soc. (1969) 175 Their Usefulness thence flowing, by the by, How full of Piety and Charity! All to their Office-Work subordinated.
1849 C. Dickens David Copperfield (1850) xvi. 167 I am not doing office-work... I am improving my legal knowledge.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 130 The greater portion of work done in the Scriptorium was mere office work.
1990 New Age Jrnl. June 107/1 When I steeled myself to approach her about the possibility of a..job.., she suggested I come over..to run errands and do office work.
C2. Objective.
a. (In sense 2.)† office-jobbing n. Obsolete
office giver n.
ΚΠ
1817 W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) I. 392 I should not like to have my name hackneyed about among the office-seekers and office-givers at Washington.
1999 Concerned Presbyterians 4 1 The office of pastor/teacher stands in direct relation to the Office Giver in the Church, the Head of the Church,..the Lord Jesus Christ.
office-holder n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > holder of office > [noun]
man of officec1300
officerc1380
officec1440
office manc1459
officiate1500
officiary1505
official1555
gerent1576
officiary1587
office-bearer1593
stallera1627
incumbent1672
designator1683
corrector1690
office-holder1818
city manager1909
postholder1961
1818 H. B. Fearon Sketches Amer. 143 Those dangerous abuses in government, introduced by office~holders, which..threaten..to become inveterate.
1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands (1868) I. i. 12 The office holders..were not greedy for the spoils of office.
1994 A. Roberts Eminent Churchillians (1995) ii. 85 Menon, officially Mountbatten's Constitutional Adviser but also clearly a senior office-holder in any future Congress Government.
office-holding n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > [noun] > the holding of office
office-holding1827
society > authority > office > [adjective] > holding office
office-holding1827
official1833
incumbent1972
1827 S. B. H. Judah Buccaneers II. iii. iii. 118 Where were those you now exalt as leaders?—where was the office holding Bayard, whose name you shout with hoarse throats?
1865 W. D. Howells Let. 15 Feb. in Sel. Lett. (1979) I. 209 There are conspicuous advantages in office-holding abroad.
1936 Discovery Feb. 63/1 The burden of compulsory office-holding ruined the well-to-do.
1991 S. Hornblower Greek World (BNC) 72 This extensive social penetration by Iranians does not seem to have destroyed local autonomy or opportunities for office-holding by locals.
office-hunter n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > holder of office > [noun] > one who seeks office
office-hunter1795
office-seeker1808
society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > one who seeks employment > who has or seeks type of position
place-hunter1713
office-hunter1795
office-seeker1808
sinecurist1817
1795 T. Jefferson Notes on Prof. Ebeling's Let. 30 July in Writings (1984) 700 Office-hunters willing to give up principles for places. A numerous and noisy tribe.
1845 W. L. Mackenzie Lives Butler & Hoyt 75 General Spicer was a keen office-hunter.
1924 Amer. Mercury Dec. 488/1 Let it go at that—and even the office-hunter will refer to you as a model citizen.
2000 Lancaster (Pa.) New Era (Nexis) 30 Oct. a8 In its reporting on public institutions, Geist promised, the newspaper would faithfully represent the interests of taxpayers, not office-hunters or office-holders.
office-hunting n.
ΚΠ
1800 T. Jefferson Let. 13 Aug. in Writings (1984) 1079 What an augmentation of the field for jobbing,..office-building and office-hunting would be produced by an assumption of all the state powers into the hands of the general government.
1889 J. S. Farmer Americanisms 397 Office-hunting is quite a business with the thousand-and-one ‘hangers-on’ to the skirts of political parties.
1997 Sunday Times (Nexis) 16 Feb. (Features section) [In Anne Somerset's description of James I's court] there is also office-hunting, dynastic vendettas, wizardry, espionage,..factionalism and unceasing malice.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > selling or sale of specific things > [noun] > selling or sale of other specific things
lease-monging1586
office-jobbing?c1670
?c1670 (title) An Humble Proposal to Parliament against Office-Jobbing.
1871 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 112 With the devotion of our rulers' time to statesmanship instead of office-jobbing, we may expect to find a congressional career growing more attractive to a large class of our best men.
office-mongering n.
ΚΠ
1889 Polit. Sci. Q. 4 281 Members of Congress, politicians who have been in office and government officials generally have begun to regard office seeking and office mongering as an unnecessary and unbearable evil.
a1919 T. Roosevelt in Ld. Charnwood Theodore Roosevelt (1923) 250 These men have a gift at office-mongering, just as other men have a peculiar knack in picking pockets.
1983 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 55 488 The office-mongering of mid-Victorian Britain is proof of a spirited participatory culture, of a willingness to consider all facets of city life as important.
office-seeker n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > holder of office > [noun] > one who seeks office
office-hunter1795
office-seeker1808
society > occupation and work > worker > [noun] > one who seeks employment > who has or seeks type of position
place-hunter1713
office-hunter1795
office-seeker1808
sinecurist1817
1808 J. Neal Pandemonium in Dishabille i Aye, that is the wish of all from Jefferson down to our lowest office seeker; true I have whissled about a little, but it was all for the purposes of popularity and office.
1845 Knickerbocker 25 374 A Friend writing from Washington..give us this pleasant sketch of a ‘Sucker’ office-seeker.
1883 W. Whitman Collect in Specimen Days & Collect 259 The members..were..the meanest kind of bawling and blowing office-holders, office-seekers.
1977 Listener 11 Aug. 163/1 In 1881..James A. Garfield..was assassinated by a disappointed office-seeker from his own party ranks.
office-seeking n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > [noun] > the holding of office > seeking office
office-seeking1825
society > authority > office > holder of office > [adjective] > seeking office
office-seeking1825
1825 L. M. Child Rebels i. 12 You mistake the unanimous voice of a free and intelligent people, for the factious zeal of a few office-seeking demagogues.
1884 Manch. Examiner 16 Oct. 5/2 The office-seeking throng, who do so much to win elections.
1901 Dict. National Biogr. Suppl. II. 356/1 Gregory was persuaded by his friends, who feared the charge of principled office-seeking, to refuse this offer.
1999 Amer. Jrnl. Polit. Sci. 43 1146 To argue that parties play an important role in affecting roll-call voting outcomes, one must establish first that parties ‘matter’ to office-seeking politicians.
b. (In sense 6.)
(a)
office cleaner n.
ΚΠ
1844 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 7 158 The office establishment..consists, in the clerk's department, of a clerk, receiving 500l. per annum; one office-keeper and crier, 40l.; another office cleaner [etc.].
1971 J. Aiken Nightly Deadshade vii. 79 Here I am, on the spot after the office cleaners have cleared off.
2000 M. Barrowcliffe Girlfriend 44 x. 249 Believe me it looked OK, even if our office cleaner did say I looked like a tiramisù.
office keeper n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > one who looks after > guardian or custodian > caretaker of a building
office keeper1707
janitor1708
caretaker1858
schoolkeeper1874
superintendent1878
janny1912
1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) 509 The Lord Privy Seal and his Officers..Richard Fountain, Office-keeper.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. i. 21 He assured me that I was on the very point of ruin, in listening to the office-keeper's promises.
1834 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 3 229/1 Has the office-keeper acquainted you with the particulars I require?
1938 Times 16 Feb. 8/7 A short time ago a telegram was delivered at my office..after I had left for the day. The office keeper..had it re-telegraphed to my home address.
office worker n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > [noun] > office worker
office worker1856
desk-man1893
office man1921
1856 J. P. Lesley Man. Coal & its Topogr. 200 All corrections of a cipher on the ground should be repeated over it immediately to relieve the office-worker of all doubt.
1936 Discovery May 146/2 The lowest value of natural illumination which an office worker requires.
2001 M. Blake 24 Karat Schmooze xxvii. 311 The Vesbar was beginning to fill with tired office workers in need of a stiffener for the journey home.
(b)
office-bound adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > [adjective] > confined > to house, office, or town
homebound1794
house-ridden1835
town-bound1835
housefast1855
housebound1878
office-bound1961
1961 Times 12 Oct. 16/2 The bliss of an office-bound youngster.
1998 Community Care 20 Aug. 11/3 I'm office-bound all day.
C3.
office automation n. the use of automatic equipment (in later use esp. information technology) in office administration.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > substitution of machines for human labour
automation1948
office automation1954
1954 Jrnl. Soc. Industr. & Appl. Math. 2 199 The term ‘office automation’ suggests this problem of integration in the office, just as ‘factory automation’ suggests integration in production operations.
1994 IEEE Ann. Hist. Computing 16 40/1 The office automation claims of the paperless office, which still shows no prospect of being achieved.
office block n. a building containing offices; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > types of building generally > [noun] > large building > used for offices
office block1871
office tower1908
1871 J. H. Goodsell Hist. Great Chicago Fire 25 On Dearborn street stood..the Dearborn theatre, and a considerable number of banks and large office blocks.
1942 London Replanned (Royal Academy) 26/2 The large octagonal building prominent in the drawing..is a suggested office block with garden court or car park.
1963 Listener 10 Jan. 71/1 Harry Bertoia's beautiful but boring silvery puffball of wire is the apotheosis of what I once heard called ‘office-block art’—the triumph of taste and craftsmanship over feeling.
2002 D. Aitkenhead Promised Land ii. 19 They park underneath office blocks connected by glass skywalks.
office boy n. a (usually young) man employed in a junior post in an office; also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > [noun] > office worker > types of
office boy1845
office girl1861
office junior1959
1845 J. H. Ingraham Charles Blackford iv. 29 I was brought up and educated..with a prejudice against labor and all pursuits that are called manual. But perhaps an office boy is the first stage towards gentility.
1914 G. B. Shaw Parents & Children in Misalliance p. lxv An office boy of fifteen is often more of a man than a university student of twenty.
1975 Times 13 Oct. 13/1 Mr [Ian] Smith..has to demonstrate to his hard-liners that he is not Pretoria's office-boy.
1990 V. S. Naipaul India: Million Mutinies (1991) iv. 252 The neighbour on Kakusthan's other side was a ‘peon’ or office boy.
office copy n. a copy of a document, etc., kept in the office for reference; also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court papers > [noun] > records of court proceedings
recordc1400
sheriff roll1534
postea1587
iter1598
bundle1678
office copy1776
society > communication > record > written record > [noun] > other types of written record
criminal record1687
police record1773
office copy1776
geological record1811
time card1837
phylactery1855
reservation1884
press cutting1888
record1897
trace1898
swindle sheet1906
form sheet1911
Dead Sea Scrolls1949
yellow card1970
society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > transcript or copy > copy or transcript for office use
office copy1776
1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 80/1 An office copy of the executors' accounts..filed the first of October, 1774.
1836 S. F. Austin Let. 22 Nov. in Ann. Rep. Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1907 (1908) II. 142 It contains your commission, a letter of credence to the secretary of the United States, and office copies of them.
1928 F. M. Ford Let. 16 Apr. (1965) 178 I don't know if you have..an office copy that you would care to sell.
1942 ‘H. W.’ What's the Gen? 20 Office copy, the, the other half; the second drink to match the first.
1993 G. Stedman Takeovers 31 The scheme takes effect once the office copy of the court's order is delivered to the Registrar of Companies for registration.
office girl n. a (usually young) woman employed in a junior post in an office.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > [noun] > office worker > types of
office boy1845
office girl1861
office junior1959
1861 Flag of our Union 17 Aug. 8/1 The last office girl in a succession of seven had just gone to the cars without washing up the breakfast dishes.
1943 E. Brown Let. 13 Aug. in S. J. Bugbee Officer & Lady (2004) 118 In addition to the actual service and maintenance work I do in radio, I act as the office girl for the 23rd Airways Communications Squadron.
1972 J. McClure Caterpillar Cop xii. 193 Ye Olde Englishe Tea Shoppe..was crowded with office girls, buying roast beef sandwiches with luncheon vouchers.
2000 M. Barrowcliffe Girlfriend 44 i. 19 Saturday morning would normally have seen him trying to remember some office girl's name while she rustled him up a full English.
office hours n. (a) the hours of work for employees in an office; the times when an office is open for business; (hence more generally) the hours during which business is normally conducted; (U.S.) spec. a doctor's surgery hours; (b) U.S. Military slang, a disciplinary session; (c) originally U.S. (in universities and colleges) specific times when a faculty member is available to meet individually with students, typically in his or her office.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > [noun] > punishments > a disciplinary session
office hours1719
society > occupation and work > work > times or periods of work > [noun] > normal hours of work in offices
office hours1719
1719 Boston News-let. 24 Aug. 4/2 These are to Certify those Persons that had any of the Counterfeit Bills of Credit..may have Satisfaction for the same at Office-Hours.
1841 W. M. Thackeray Great Hoggarty Diamond (1849) ix. 100 Gus Hoskins and I, who hunted after office hours in couples.
1898 J. H. Parker Hist. Gatling Gun Detachment 23 I don't want to hear anything about it... If you want to see me about this subject, come to me in office hours.
1914 Rep. Surv. Univ. Wisconsin 318 Numerous regular office hours and others made by appointment make it possible for students to confer with faculty men of whatsoever rank.
1967 A. Dubus Lieutenant 41 He committed an offense, he was brought in to office hours.
1979 L. Shainberg Brain Surgeon i. 22 Charlie was seen, as such patients often were, just before evening rounds rather than during regular office hours.
2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 14 Feb. 8/1 The security service..contented itself with having him followed by the Special Branch, but only when he was in London, and only during office hours.
2008 D. Lodge Deaf Sentence (2009) v. 74 The staff also kept office hours when their tutees were free to drop in for advice.
office hymn n. a Latin plainsong hymn appointed to be sung as part of the Divine Office (chiefly historical); a translation of such a hymn used in Anglican worship.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > church music > hymn > kinds of hymn > office > [noun]
office hymn1875
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > religious or devotional > [noun] > hymn or song of praise > types of hymn
Ambrosiana1225
walking hymn1605
antelucano1647
recessional1867
processional1868
office hymn1875
1875 Musical Times Sept. 213/2 His [Jacob Bradford] anthem ‘I was glad’ took the place of the office hymn.
1931 Notes & Queries 19 Sept. 216/2 We are told that the best place for the Office Hymn both at Matins and Evensong is immediately before the Psalms.
1975 18th-cent. Stud. 8 396 Changes in emotional attitudes began to make it possible to admit translations from the Latin, and these included not only the old established office hymns,..but also such eighteenth-century works as the indispensable ‘Come all ye faithful.’
office junior n. the lowest ranking, and frequently the youngest, member of the staff of an office.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > [noun] > office worker > types of
office boy1845
office girl1861
office junior1959
1959 J. C. Denyer Office Managem. xi. 83 For office juniors, the appropriate official to approach is the Juvenile Employment Officer.
2001 D. Crystal Lang. & Internet iv. 105 ‘Cool dude’ might have suited John Doe as an office junior, but he may not like to be reminded of his former e-identity now he is a company vice-president.
office lady n. [after Japanese ofisu redii (1964) < ofisu (1908; < English office n.) + redii (1878; < English lady n.); compare salary man n. at salary n. Compounds 1a] (in Japan) a young, usually unmarried, woman working in an office, esp. in a secretarial or relatively menial position; abbreviated OL (OL n. at O n.1 Initialisms 1).
ΚΠ
1973 Japan Interpreter 8 240 The new crop of shokuba no hana (‘office flowers’) appears regularly every spring to replace older OL (‘office ladies’) being forced out at the ripe old age of twenty-five or twenty-six.
1993 Daily Tel. 29 Dec. 9/7 Now, the only customers in the local amusement park are a few ‘salarymen’ squiring their ‘office ladies’ round the rides.
2008 E. Roberts et al. Live & Work in Japan (ed. 3) 186 The stereotype of the working woman in Japan remains the ‘OL’ or office lady, employed to clean, serve tea, and look pretty in a uniform.
office park n. originally U.S. a large development of office buildings (often with integrated shopping and leisure facilities for workers), usually situated outside of a city centre.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > other areas
friars1479
foreign1514
acropolis1570
sestiere1599
shopping district1837
downstreet1865
Latin Quarter1869
midtown1882
club-land1885
flat-land1889
brick area1895
turf1953
grey area1959
office park1963
bed-sitter-land1968
edge city1968
1963 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 28 327 Computer Associates, Inc., Lakeside Office Park, Wakefield, Mass.
1986 Business Rev. Weekly (Austral.) 19 Sept. 52/1 In Melbourne's south-east suburbs, farming land and disused factory space is being transformed into office parks.
1995 Wired Jan. 70/1 The US headquarters of Capcom..lies in a flat office-park corridor of US 101 in Sunnyvale, California.
office party n. a party held for members of the staff of an office.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > social gathering > party > [noun] > other parties
play-party1796
tail1837
surprise-party1840
street party1845
costume party1850
pound party1869
all-nighter1870
neighbourhood party1870
simcha1874
ceilidh1875
studio party1875
pounding1883
house party1885
private function1888
shower1893
kitchen shower1896
kitchen evening1902
bottle party1903
pyjama party1910
block party1919
house party1923
after-party1943
slumber party1949
office party1950
freeload1952
hukilau1954
BYOB1959
pot party1959
bush party1962
BYO1965
wrap party1978
bop1982
warehouse party1988
rave1989
1950 New Yorker 16 Dec. 25 (caption) Say, how about us having sort of an office party?
1967 ‘E. McGirr’ Here lies my Wife iii. 105 Kellerman had been in New Orleans the previous Christmas and so had missed the..office party.
2001 R. Kenna Glasgow Pub Compan. (ed. 2) 78/2 Basement bar/restaurant with three bars and a separate dining area, long popular as a venue for office parties and similar junkets.
office piano n. humorous slang (now rare) a typewriter.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > typing > typewriter > [noun]
typographer1829
typewriter1868
typer1892
mill1911
office piano1942
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §75/38 Typewriter, mill, office piano.
1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 87 Office piano,..a typewriter.
office tower n. originally U.S. a tall building containing offices; cf. office block n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > types of building generally > [noun] > large building > used for offices
office block1871
office tower1908
1908 N.Y. Times 20 May 8/1 He was no more swayed by the situation..than the top of our office tower is moved by the sprightly breeze.
1999 Dominion (Wellington, N.Z.) (Electronic ed.) 23 Nov. AMP NZ Office Trust was looking to expand its property portfolio by at least 30 per cent with the construction of a $150 million office tower on the Auckland waterfront.
office wife n. U.S. slang (now depreciative) a man's female secretary.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > [noun] > clerical > secretarial > woman
notaress1622
office wife1930
1930 F. Baldwin (title) The office wife.
1952 G. W. Brace Spire (1953) xxvii. 268 I've been a pretty faithful office wife to him, and though he has never invited me to share a bed..he does hate to part with me.
1999 Feminist Stud. (Nexis) 25 55 No longer were they [sc. working women] willing to fulfill the expectation among men that a secretary would serve as an ‘office wife’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
officev.
/ˈɒfɪs/, U.S. /ˈɔfəs/, /ˈɑfəs/ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > observance, ritual > perform rite(s) [verb (transitive)]
workOE
servec1175
usea1250
solemnize1382
exercisea1400
observec1425
solennizec1440
officyc1443
officec1449
execute1450
solemn1483
celebratec1487
solemnizate1538
frequenta1555
to put upa1628
officiate1631
ceremony1635
liturgy1716
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 173 The same preest schulde office to God.
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) iv. xxi. sig. z.vi v The clerke so ordened shol not offyce.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > serve [verb (transitive)] > perform in way of service
officea1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iii. ii. 128 Although The ayre of Paradise did fan the house, And Angles offic'd all. View more context for this quotation
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > appoint a person to an office [verb (transitive)]
setc1000
stevenOE
assign1297
inseta1300
stable1300
ordaina1325
instituec1384
to put ina1387
limitc1405
point?1405
stablish1439
institutec1475
invest1489
assumec1503
to fill the hands of1535
establish1548
settle1548
appoint1557
place1563
assumptc1571
dispose1578
seat1595
state1604
instate1613
to bring ina1616
officea1616
constitute1616
impose1617
ascribe1624
install1647
to set up1685
prick1788
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 173 So stands this Squire Offic'd with me. View more context for this quotation
1764 C. Churchill Duellist ii. 23 Before her Magna Charta lay, Which some great Lawyer..was offic'd to explain.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > [verb (transitive)] > drive by virtue of one's office
officea1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. ii. 64 You shall perceiue, that a Iacke gardant cannot office me from my Son Coriolanus. View more context for this quotation
5. transitive. slang. To ‘give the office’ to (someone), to signal; to give private notice of (something). See office n. 11. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > action of informing > give (information) [verb (transitive)] > inform (a person) > specially or privately
office1812
to give (or take) the office1890
tip1891
1812 Sporting Mag. 39 283 This letter was to office Trist about laying bets on thick.
1819 T. Moore Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress 19 To office, with all due dispatch, through the air, To the Bulls of the Alley the fate of the Bear.
1841 ‘F. L. G.’ Swell's Night Guide Gloss. Office, giving warning.
1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 58 She eased him of his fawney,..officed her cullies, they pasted his nibs, and scarpered rumbo.
1865 in Comments on Etymol. (1983) 13 19 I immediately ‘officed’ to him what was up.
1914 L. E. Jackson & C. R. Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 63 Office, noun,..a signal;..a warning... Used also as a verb in the same sense.
1926 J. Black You can't Win xiii. 182 Sanc closed the door..and ‘officed’ me to follow him out.
1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. No. 24. 73 The tool offices that they will clip him as he enters the ramp... The tool offices for a left bridge and a left prat, and the frame closes.
6. intransitive. North American. To have or work in an office; to share an office with someone.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > do clerical work
to desk it1846
office1892
secretary1933
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (transitive)] > share an office with
office1892
1892 Nation (N.Y.) 21 Apr. 303/2 An attorney officing in the same building.
1896 in Dial. Notes (1916) 4 347 Office with,..to share an office with.
1936 Atlantic July (Contributors' Col., 4) A local newspaper has just carried two want ads containing this wording:—‘Chance for public accountant to office with lawyer.’ ‘Chance for high grade realtor to office with lawyer.’
1972 J. Reaney Masks of Childhood Pref. When I took my first teaching job at the University of Manitoba in 1949 I taught and officed in what was known as the old Broadway Buildings.
1991 J. Garreau Edge City x. 454 Where is he officing now?
Derivatives
ˈofficing n. the action of ‘giving the office’ or signalling (slang); (also) the action of working in or providing with an office.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > action of informing > [noun] > giving private or special information
officing1859
tipping1883
1859 G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 60 Officing, signalizing; a preconcerted signal by a confederate.
1932 L. E. Blauch et al. Liberal Arts College 127 (table) Officing with two or more in the same office.
1949 E. Partridge Dict. Underworld 479/1 Officing, a preconcerted signal.
1999 W. H. Dutton et al. Society on the Line 160 The degree to which practices, such as downsizing, or alternative officing, are poorly applied.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> as lemmas
off-ice
off-ice adj. /ˌɑfˈaɪs/ of or relating to an ice-hockey player when not engaged in a game.
Brit. /ˌɒfˈʌɪs/
, /ˌɒfˈʌɪs/U.S. /ˌɔfˈaɪs/
, /ˌɔfˈaɪs//ˌɑfˈaɪs/ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > ice hockey > [adjective] > characteristics of team or player
short-handed1939
puck-shy1957
penalty killing1960
off-ice1968
1968 Globe Mag. (Toronto) 17 Feb. 5 There are now lucrative possibilities in many parts of North America for Leafs who once sold their off-ice services, personal appearances and so on very cheap.
1993 Hockey News (Toronto) 5 Feb. 13 (advt.) Off-ice training includes extensive dry-land drills, Nautilus weight training. and specialized stretching and warm-up exercises.
<
n.c1300
v.c1449as lemmas
- posthole bore
- posthole borer
- posthole digger
- posthole evidence
- posthole pattern
- posthole territory
- postholes
- postholiday
- postholocaust
- posthomeric
- posthorn
- posthorn band
- posthorn pond snail
- posthorn solo
- posthorse
- posthorses
- posthouse
- posthouses
- posthuman
- posthumanism
- posthumanist
- posthumary
- posthumate
- posthume
- posthumed