office /ofˈis/ noun- Orig an act of kindness or attention
- A service
- (with ill, etc) a disservice
- A function or duty
- Settled duty or employment
- A position imposing certain duties or giving a right to exercise an employment
- The possession of a post in the government
- Business
- An act of worship
- The order or form of a religious service, either public or private
- That which a thing is designed or fitted to do
- A place where business is carried on
- A group of staff occupying such a place
- A state department
- The building in which it is housed
- A doctor's consulting room (N American)
- A cockpit in an aeroplane (slang)
- A euphemism for lavatory
- A hint (slang)
- (in pl) the apartments of a house or the subsidiary buildings in which the domestic, etc, work is carried out
ORIGIN: Fr, from L officium a favour, duty or service offˈicer noun - Someone who holds an office
- A person who performs some public duty
- A person holding a commission in an army, navy or air force
- Someone who holds a similar post in any force or body organized on a similar plan
- A policeman or policewoman
- An office-bearer in a society
transitive verb- (of officers) to command or lead
- To provide with officers
official /ə-fishˈəl/ adjective - Relating to an office
- Depending on the proper office or authority
- Done by authority
- Issued or authorized by a public authority or office
- (of an explanation, etc) untrue but maintained in public, the truth being embarrassing or compromising
- (of a drug) recognized in the pharmacopoeia (cf officinal)
noun- A person who holds an office
- A subordinate public officer
- The deputy of a bishop, etc
officˈialdom noun - Officials as a body
- The world of officials
- Officialism
officialeseˈ noun Stilted, wordy and stereotyped English alleged to be characteristic of official letters and documents officˈialism noun - Official position
- Excessive devotion to official routine and detail
- The self-importance of a Jack-in-office
officiality /ə-fish-i-alˈi-ti/ or officialty /ə-fishˈəl-ti/ noun (rare) - The charge, office or jurisdiction of an official
- The official headquarters of an ecclesiastical or other deliberative and governing body
- Officialism
officially /ə-fishˈə-li/ adverb officiant /ə-fishˈi-ənt/ noun Someone who officiates at a religious service, someone who administers a sacrament officˈiate intransitive verb To perform the duties of an office officiāˈtion noun officˈiator noun offˈice-bearer noun - Someone who holds office
- Someone who has an appointed duty to perform in connection with some company, society, church, etc
office block noun A large building in which an office or variety of offices is housed offˈice-book noun A book of forms of church service office boy, office girl noun A boy or girl employed to do minor jobs in an office offˈice-holder noun - Someone who holds a government office
- A civil servant, usu in administration (US)
office hours plural noun The time during which an office is open for business, typically 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday offˈice-hunter noun A self-seeking candidate for public employment office junior noun An employee who carries out general office duties under the direction of an office supervisor Office of Fair Trading noun A UK government agency set up in 1973 to protect traders and consumers against unfair trading practices (abbrev OFT) officer of arms noun (also with caps) any of the thirteen officers of the College of Arms (qv) officer of the day noun (military) The officer in charge of camp or unit security on any particular day offˈice-seeker noun A candidate for office official list noun A list of the current prices of stocks and shares published daily by the London Stock Exchange official receiver see under receive last offices - Rites for the dead
- The preparation of a corpse for burial
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