Etymologically
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officiosus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔf.fɪ.kiˈoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [of.fi.t͡ʃiˈɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

officiōsus (feminine officiōsa, neuter officiōsum, comparative officiōsior, superlative officiōsissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin officium (“service, duty”) + -ōsus.[2][3][1] De Vaan derives officium from Proto-Italic *opi-fak-io-, from ops (“power, resources”) and the root of faciō (“to do”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the comic poet Afranius, of the second half of the 2nd century BC.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It describes someone always ready to perform the services owed to a friend or a superior: dutiful, attentive, obliging.[2][6] Cicero applies it to the labours of an advocate and to grief that duty demands.[2] In a bad sense it means officious or importunate, as of a caller whom a married woman should rather rebuff in Seneca the Elder.[2]

Timeline

  • 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of an advocate's dutiful labours.[2][5]
  • 55 BC–40 AD – Seneca the Elder of an officious caller.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Dutiful, attentive, obliging, ready to serve.[2][6][1]
  2. Of actions, done from a sense of duty.[2]
  3. Officious, importunate.[2][1]

Word family

  • inofficiōsus
  • officiositas

Usage notes

Gellius, following Nigidius, asks why ingeniōsus and officiōsus, formed alike from ingenium and officium, are always said in praise and never in blame.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press