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officiarius

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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]

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