ufficio Italian · revision 37826

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1304–1308, Dante|origins=la opifex}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ufˈfi.t͡ʃo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ufficio''' ''m'' (plural uffici)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older and literary variants are ''officio'', ''uffizio'', ''ufizio'' and ''uficio''.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The form ''ufficio'' won out over them only in the second half of the 19th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|officium|t=duty, service; post, function]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The Latin noun is a contraction of [[m|la|opificium|t=the carrying out of a work]], from [[m|la|opifex|t=craftsman]], a compound of [[m|la|opus|t=work]] and the root of [[m|la|faciō|t=to make, do]], so that it first meant the performance of a task and then the task itself; [[officina]] shows the same contraction.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The OLD and Wiktionary analyse the first part as [[m|la|ops|t=power, resources]], and Wiktionary traces it to [[ine-pro|*h₃ep-|t=to work]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ In Latin the word entered the language of public law, for the duties and the post of a magistrate, and Cicero used it to render [[grc|καθῆκον|tr=kathêkon|t=what is fitting, duty]] in philosophy; through the sense “service owed” it became the divine service of the Church.^(DELI 1999) Devoto compares the change of the first vowel to that of [[m|la|occīdō|t=to kill]] in [[uccidere]].^(Devoto 1968) The same learned word is [[fr|office]] and [[es|oficio]], and Wiktionary names [[opificio]] as a doublet as well.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Dante (1304–1308), for what each person must do according to place, time and condition; in Dante the usual form is ''officio'', and ''offizio'' appears only in verse and in rhyme.^(DELI 1999) Giordano da Pisa (1305–1306) uses ''officio'' many times and ''ufficio'' once, and GRADIT dates the word to 1306.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The religious sense “prayer, liturgical service” is in Giordano da Pisa (1305–1306) and Domenico Cavalca (before 1342), and the sense “task, charge” in Dante (before 1321).^(DELI 1999) Dino Compagni (1310–1312) uses ''uficio'' for the set of functions held by an official, and Boccaccio (1348–1353) for a favour or kindness done to someone.^(DELI 1999) Only later did the word come to mean a place: the room where an official works (before 1729, Anton Maria Salvini, ''uffizio'') and an employee's workplace (1875).^(DELI 1999) The sense “intervention, recommendation”, as in ''buoni uffici'', is recorded from 1891.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The spelling ''ufficio'' prevailed through the language of the bureaucracy, to the dismay of Manzoni, who in an 1865 letter mocked the non-Florentine form on a Florentine telegraph-office notice.^(DELI 1999) DELI thinks the legal phrase ''d'ufficio'' “ex officio” may be modelled on German ''von Amts wegen'', and ''ufficio politico'' renders the Russian ''Politbjuro'' (in Italian from 1925).^(DELI 1999) The ''Santo Uffizio'' was the tribunal of the Inquisition.^(DEI|3943) The derivative ''ufficiale'' “official” comes from Late Latin ''officialis'' and is recorded from 1275; the military ''ufficiale'' “officer” follows French ''officier''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1275 – ''Uficiale'' “official” appears in the accounts of the commune of Prato.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses ''officio'' for a person's duty.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses ''officio'' for a religious service.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses ''uficio'' for the functions of an official.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1729 – Anton Maria Salvini uses ''uffizio'' for the place where an official works.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1865 – Manzoni complains of the spelling ''ufficio'' in a letter.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1875 – The sense “an employee's workplace” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1925 – ''Ufficio politico'' renders the Soviet ''Politbjuro''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(literary)'' A moral [[m|en|duty]] or obligation, a task that falls to someone because of their position: ''Proteggere i deboli è ufficio della legge.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A service or favour; an intervention on someone's behalf, especially in ''buoni uffici'', [[m|en|good offices]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A post, charge or function, and the duties that go with it: ''Ha lasciato l'ufficio di sindaco dopo due anni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|department]] of a public body or a company, and the staff who work in it: ''l'ufficio del personale'', ''l'ufficio stampa''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # An [[m|en|office]], the premises or the room where employees or a manager work: ''Domani lavoro da casa e non vengo in ufficio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Christianity)'' A liturgical service or prayer, especially the [[m|en|Divine Office]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ufficiale]]

+ * [[ufficioso]]

+ * [[ufficiare]]

+ * [[ufficiatura]]

+ * [[ufficialità]]

+ * [[sottufficiale]]

+ * [[capoufficio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[officina]]

+ * [[opificio]]

+ * [[officiare]]

+ * [[la|officium]]

+ * [[fr|office]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''D'ufficio'' means “ex officio, by virtue of one's office, without a request”: an ''avvocato d'ufficio'' is a defence lawyer appointed by the court, and a ''reato perseguibile d'ufficio'' is prosecuted without a complaint.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003) The plural is ''uffici''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}