Etymologically
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officialis

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔf.fɪ.kiˈaː.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [of.fi.t͡ʃiˈaː.lis][1]

Forms

officiālis (neuter officiāle, adverb officiāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from officium “duty, service” with the suffix -ālis.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ulpian, of services owed by a freedman.[2] Köbler dates Ulpian before 223 AD.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant connected with duty or obligation; in Ulpian operae officiālēs were services a freedman gave his patron out of personal obligation.[2] As a noun it meant an official attending a magistrate, as in Apuleius.[2] Lactantius uses it of what concerns duty, and calls books on duties librī officiālēs.[5][6] Lewis & Short call it post-classical.[6]

In Medieval Latin it meant a member of a craft guild and one in charge of an office, and an officiālis was a bishop's judicial officer.[7][4] Through Old French oficial it gave English official in the early 14th century, first a minor ecclesiastical court officer.[3]

Timeline

  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it.[2][4]
  • c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it.[5][4]
  • early 14th century – English official is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of duty or obligation; official.[2][6]

Noun

  1. An attendant of a magistrate, an official.[2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A bishop's judge.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill