Etymologically
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officium

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔfˈfɪ.ki.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ofˈfiː.t͡ʃi.um][1]

Forms

officium n (genitive officiī or officī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is a syncopated form of opificium “work-doing”, from Latin ops (“power, resources”) + faciō (“to do, make”) + -ium.[2][3][1][4] The TLL accepts this but notes that there is no parallel for the loss of i between a stop and f, and Georges marks the derivation as uncertain.[5][6] Donatus and Isidore of Seville derived it from efficere, from what each person ought to accomplish, and Ambrose from officere, as doing what harms no one.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[7] where a slave asks why he is blamed if he does his duty;[2] Terence uses it of acts of kindness.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a helpful act done in fulfilment of an obligation, a service or kindness, which Seneca distinguished from a benefit freely given; it extended to the last rites, to sexual favours and to the services of things.[2][3] It was also an act of respect, the ceremonial visit of a client to his patron, the gathering of such visitors, and a ceremony such as a wedding.[2]

Its central sense was duty: what one owes to others and to the State, allegiance (in officio esse, to stay loyal), and moral obligation in general, the subject of Cicero's De officiis, where Georges takes it as the Greek kathēkon.[2][6] From there it meant the function of a person or an organ, a task or commission, official business, and a post or office, and in the Empire a department of officials.[2]

Church Latin used it for divine service and the liturgy of the Hours,[8][4] and medieval texts for an official, his district, a monastic charge, a household ministry, a retinue, a manorial charge, a judicial district, a craft and a guild.[9][7] The English word came through Anglo-French and Old French in the mid-13th century, and the Romance languages have French office, Italian ufficio and Spanish oficio.[4][1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of one's duty and function.[2][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of kindly services.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero writes De officiis and uses it of duty and allegiance.[2][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a military commission.[2][7]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca distinguishes officium from beneficium.[2][3]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of a department of officials.[2][7]
  • mid-13th century – English Office is borrowed into English.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A service done out of obligation, a kindness, a favour; the last rites.[2][3]
  2. An act of respect, a courtesy; a ceremonial visit; a ceremony.[2]
  3. Duty, obligation; allegiance; a sense of duty.[2][3]
  4. The function or job of a person or thing.[2]
  5. A task, a commission; official business.[2]
  6. A post, an office; a body of officials.[2][3]
  7. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Divine service; the liturgy of the Hours.[8][4]
  8. (Medieval Latin) An official; his district; a monastic or household charge; a retinue; a craft; a guild.[9][7]

Word family

  • officiālis
  • officiōsus
  • officiperda
  • officiāliter
  • officīna

Usage notes

Döderlein explains officium as an employment undertaken from a sense of moral obligation, mūnus as one undertaken as a political charge.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper