officiosus Latin · revision 32300

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=2nd century BC, Afranius|origins=la ops}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɔf.fɪ.kiˈoː.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [of.fi.t͡ʃiˈɔː.s̬us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''officiōsus''' (feminine officiōsa, neuter officiōsum, comparative officiōsior, superlative officiōsissimus); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|officium|-ōsus|t1=service, duty]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan derives [[m|la|officium]] from [[itc-pro|*opi-fak-io-]], from [[m|la|ops|t=power, resources]] and the root of [[m|la|faciō|t=to do]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from the comic poet Afranius, of the second half of the 2nd century BC.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It describes someone always ready to perform the services owed to a friend or a superior: dutiful, attentive, obliging.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero applies it to the labours of an advocate and to grief that duty demands.^(OLD 2012) In a bad sense it means officious or importunate, as of a caller whom a married woman should rather rebuff in Seneca the Elder.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of an advocate's dutiful labours.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 55 BC–40 AD – Seneca the Elder of an officious caller.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|dutiful|alt=Dutiful]], attentive, obliging, ready to serve.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of actions, done from a sense of duty.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|officious|alt=Officious]], importunate.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==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.^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}