officiarius

Forms

officiārius m (genitive officiāriī or officiārī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin officium (“service, duty, office”) + -ārius.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's only Late Latin example is in a letter ascribed to Ambrose, on the passion of Gervasius and Protasius, where the consular Paulinus speaks to an officiarius.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant the same as officiālis, an official.^[2] Medieval sources use it of a household servant, a manorial agent and a court bailiff;^[4] in Britain of royal and church officers and of a monk who officiates at the liturgy.^[5] As an adjective it described people or rooms busy with some task, and late British records also have a neuter plural for business and a feminine for a body of officials.^[5]

English officer came from it through Old French.^[6]

Timeline

• Late Latin – A letter ascribed to Ambrose uses it of an official's attendant.^[2]
• 979 – A charter.^[3]
• early 14th century – English officer, through Old French.^[6]
• 1313 – The king's officers, in the Oxford statutes.^[5]
• 1441 – As an adjective, of nuns who have duties.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) An official, an attendant of a magistrate.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) A household servant.^[4]
3. (Medieval Latin) A manorial agent; a bailiff.^[4]
4. (Medieval Latin) An officer of the king or of a church or monastery.^[5]
5. (Medieval Latin) One who officiates at the liturgy.^[5]

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Concerned with duties or tasks.^[5]

Related words

• officiālis
• English officer

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com