Etymologically
Log in

official

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 14:22. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əˈfɪʃ.əl/[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English official, borrowed from Old French official (“law officer; bishop's representative”) and directly Late Latin officiālis (“attendant to a magistrate, public official”),[2][3] a noun use of the Latin adjective officiālis (“of duty, service or office”),[2][3][4] from officium (“service, duty, office”),[2][5] the source of office.[5][4] Etymonline analyses officium as literally “work-doing”, from opus (“work”) and facere (“to do”).[2] The adjective is from Old French and Late Latin as well.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The presiding judge of a bishop's or archdeacon's court: 1314–15,[7] or about 1330;[3] it occurs earlier as a surname, in 1252.[3]

Semantic evolution

A household officer is from 1340, now obsolete.[7][8] One holding public office is from 1555[7] or the 1550s.[2] The adjective meant “performing a service” from the late 14th century and “required by duty” from about 1400, both obsolete.[2][6] “Pertaining to an office” is from about 1600[2] or 1607,[7] and “authorized by those in office” by 1854.[2][7] Official secrets is from 1889.[7] A referee or umpire is an official in sports.[9]

Timeline

  • 1252 – as a surname.[3]
  • 1314–15 – a church court judge.[7]
  • 1555 – a public officer.[7]
  • 1607 – adjective, of an office.[7]
  • 1854 – adjective, authorized.[7][2]
  • 1889 – official secrets.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to an office or post of authority.
  2. Authorized by a proper authority.
  3. Holding office; serving in a public capacity.
  4. Formal, befitting a person in authority.

Noun

  1. A person who holds an office, especially in an institution or government.
  2. A referee or umpire.

Word family

  • officialdom
  • officially
  • preofficial
  • subofficial
  • officialism
  • nonofficial
  • underofficial
  • officialese

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin