Office \Of"fice\, n. [F., fr. L. officium, for opificium; ops
ability, wealth, help + facere to do or make. See Opulent,
Fact.]
1. That which a person does, either voluntarily or by
appointment, for, or with reference to, others; customary
duty, or a duty that arises from the relations of man to
man; as, kind offices, pious offices.
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I would I could do a good office between you.
--Shak.
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2. A special duty, trust, charge, or position, conferred by
authority and for a public purpose; a position of trust or
authority; as, an executive or judical office; a municipal
office.
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3. A charge or trust, of a sacred nature, conferred by God
himself; as, the office of a priest under the old
dispensation, and that of the apostles in the new.
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Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I
magnify mine office. --Rom. xi. 13.
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4. That which is performed, intended, or assigned to be done,
by a particular thing, or that which anything is fitted to
perform; a function; -- answering to duty in intelligent
beings.
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They [the eyes] resign their office and their light.
--Shak.
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Hesperus, whose office is to bring
Twilight upon the earth. --Milton.
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In this experiment the several intervals of the
teeth of the comb do the office of so many prisms.
--Sir I.
Newton.
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5. The place where any kind of business or service for others
is transacted; a building, suite of rooms, or room in
which public officers or workers in any organization
transact business; as, the register's office; a lawyer's
office; the doctor's office; the Mayor's office.
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6. The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose
place of business is in an office; as, I have notified the
office.
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7. pl. The apartments or outhouses in which the domestics
discharge the duties attached to the service of a house,
as kitchens, pantries, stables, etc. [Eng.]
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As for the offices, let them stand at distance.
--Bacon.
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8. (Eccl.) Any service other than that of ordination and the
Mass; any prescribed religious service.
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This morning was read in the church, after the
office was done, the declaration setting forth the
late conspiracy against the king's person. --Evelyn.
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Holy office. Same as Inquisition, n., 3.
Houses of office. Same as def. 7 above. --Chaucer.
Little office (R. C. Ch.), an office recited in honor of
the Virgin Mary.
Office bearer, an officer; one who has a specific office or
duty to perform.
Office copy (Law), an authenticated or certified copy of a
record, from the proper office. See Certified copies,
under Copy. --Abbott.
Office-found (Law), the finding of an inquest of office.
See under Inquest.
Office holder. See Officeholder in the Vocabulary
Office hours. the hours of the day during which business is
transacted at an office[5].
Office seeker. a person who is attempting to get elected to
an elected office, or to get an appointment to an
appointive public office.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Office \Of`fice\, v. t.
To perform, as the duties of an office; to discharge. [Obs.]
--Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
office
n 1: place of business where professional or clerical duties are
performed; "he rented an office in the new building"
[syn: business office]
2: an administrative unit of government; "the Central
Intelligence Agency"; "the Census Bureau"; "Office of
Management and Budget"; "Tennessee Valley Authority" [syn:
agency, federal agency, government agency, bureau,
authority]
3: the actions and activities assigned to or required or
expected of a person or group; "the function of a
teacher"; "the government must do its part"; "play its
role" [syn: function, part, role]
4: (of a government or government official) holding an office
means being in power; "being in office already gives a
candidate a great advantage"; "during his first year in
office"; "during his first year in power"; "the power of
the president" [syn: power]
5: professional or clerical workers in an office; "the whole
office was late the morning of the blizzard" [syn: office
staff]
6: a religious rite or service prescribed by ecclesiastical
authorities; "the offices of the mass"
7: a job in an organization; "he occupied a post in the
treasury" [syn: position, post, berth, spot, billet,
place, situation]
WordNet (r) 2.0
284 Moby Thesaurus words for "office":
Mass, act of grace, act of kindness, advice, advocacy, aegis,
agency, agentship, aid, alerting, appointment, area, assignment,
assistance, atelier, auspices, authority, authorization,
baccalaureate service, backhouse, backing, backup, bailiwick,
bedtime prayer, benefaction, benefit, benevolence, benignity,
berth, billet, bit, blessing, booking office, box office, branch,
branch office, brevet, bureau, business, cabinet, camp meeting,
capacity, care, caution, celebration, ceremonial, ceremony,
chambers, chancellery, chancery, character, charge, chore, church,
church service, closet, clue, comfort, commencement, commissariat,
commission, commissioning, commitment, company, compline,
connection, consignment, constablery, constablewick, constabulary,
consulate, convocation, corporate headquarters, corporation,
courtesy, crapper, cue, cure, delegated authority, delegation, den,
department, deputation, devolution, devolvement, devotions,
divine service, division, duty, ease, embassy, employment,
empowerment, empty formality, end use, engagement, entrusting,
entrustment, errand, establishment, evening devotions, evensong,
executive office, executorship, exequatur, exercise, exercises,
factorship, favor, firm, form, form of worship, formal, formality,
formula, formulary, full power, function, gig, good deed,
good offices, good turn, grace, graduation, graduation exercises,
headquarters, help, holy rite, home office, house,
immediate purpose, inaugural, inauguration, incumbency, indulgence,
initiation, institution, intercession, intermediation, jakes, job,
jurisdiction, kind deed, kind offices, kindly act, kindness,
labor of love, lauds, legation, library, license, lieutenancy,
liturgy, lob, loft, main office, mandate, matins, mediation,
meeting, mercy, ministration, ministry, mission, mitzvah,
mode of worship, monition, moonlighting, morning devotions,
mummery, municipality, mystery, necessary, night song, none, nones,
novena, obligation, observance, occupation, offices, opening,
operation, operational purpose, order of worship, ordinance,
organization, outhouse, part, passing word, patronage, performance,
place, plenipotentiary power, pointer, position, post,
power of attorney, power to act, practice, praise meeting, prayer,
prayer meeting, prayers, prescribed form, prime, prime song,
procuration, protection, province, proxy, public worship, purpose,
purview, regency, regentship, relief, religious ceremony, remedy,
rescue, responsibility, revival, revival meeting, rite,
rite de passage, rite of passage, ritual, ritual observance,
rituality, role, room, sacrament, sacramental, sail loft,
second job, secretariat, section, service, sext, sheriffalty,
sheriffwick, shop, shrievalty, shtick, situation, solemnity,
solemnization, spot, stacks, station, steer, studio, study, succor,
support, task, tent meeting, tenure, therapy, thing, ticket office,
tierce, tip, tip-off, trust, trusteeship, turn, ultimate purpose,
undersong, use, vacancy, vesper, vespers, vicarious authority,
vigils, warning, warrant, watch meeting, watch night,
watch-night service, whisper, work, workplace, workroom
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
Office
Microsoft Office
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)
OFFICE. An office is a right to exercise a public function or employment,
and to take the fees and emoluments belonging to it,. Shelf. on Mortm. 797;
Cruise, Dig. Index, h.t.; 3 Serg. & R. 149.
2. Offices may be classed into civil and military.
3.-1. Civil offices may be classed into political, judicial, and
ministerial.
4.-1. The political offices are such as are not connected immediately
with the administration of justice, or the execution of the mandates of a
superior officer; the office of the president of the United States, of the
heads of departments, of the members of the legislature, are of this number.
5.-2. The judicial offices are those which relate to the
administration of justice, and which must be exercised by persons of
sufficient skill and experience in the duties which appertain to them.
6.-3. Ministerial offices are those which give the officer no power
to judge of the matter to be done, and require him to obey the mandates of a
superior. 7 Mass. 280. See 5 Wend. 170; 10 Wend. 514; 8 Vern. 512; Breese,
280. It is a general rule, that a judicial office cannot be exercised by
deputy, while a ministerial may.
7. In the United, States, the tenure of office never extends beyond
good behaviour. In England, offices are public or private. The former affect
the people generally, the latter are such as concern particular districts,
belonging to private individuals. In the United States, all offices,
according to the above definition, are public; but in another sense,
employments of a private nature are also called offices; for example, the
office of president of a bank, the office of director of a corporation. For
the incompatibility of office, see Incompatibility; 4 S. & R. 277; 4 Inst.
100; Com. Dig. h.t., B. 7; and vide, generally, 3 Kent, Com. 362; Cruise,
Dig. tit. 25; Ham. N. P. 283; 16 Vin. Ab. 101; Ayliffe's Parerg. 395; Poth.
Traite des Choses, Sec. 2; Amer. Dig. h.t.; 17 S. & R. 219.
8.-2. Military offices consist of such as are granted to soldiers or
naval officers.
9. The room in which the business of an officer is transacted is also
called an office, as the land office. Vide Officer.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
OFFICE, INQUEST OF. An examination into a matter by an officer in virtue of
his office. Vide Inquisition.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
OFFICER. He who is lawfully invested with an office.
2. Officers may be classed into, 1. Executive; as the president of the
United States of America, the several governors of the different states.
Their duties are pointed out in the national constitution, and the
constitutions of the several states, but they are required mainly to cause
the laws to be executed and obeyed.
3.-2. The legislative; such as members of congress; and of the
several state legislatures. These officers are confined in their duties by
the constitution, generally to make laws, though sometimes in cases of
impeachment, one of the houses of the legislature exercises judicial
functions, somewhat similar to those of a grand jury by presenting to the
other articles of impeachment; and the other house acts as a court in trying
such impeachments. The legislatures have, besides the power to inquire into
the conduct of their members, judge of their elections, and the like.
4.-3. Judicial officers; whose duties are to decide controversies
between individuals, and accusations made in the name of the public against
persons charged with a violation of the law.
5.-4. Ministerial officers, or those whose duty it is to execute the
mandates, lawfully issued, of their superiors.
6.-5. Military officers, who have commands in the army; and
7.-6. Naval officers, who are in command in the navy.
8. Officers are required to exercise the functions which belong to
their respective offices. The neglect to do so, may, in some cases, subject
the offender to an indictment; 1 Yeates, R. 519; and in others, he will be
liable to the party injured. 1 Yeates, R. 506.
9. Officers are also divided into public officers and those who are not
public. Some officers may bear both characters; for example, a clergyman is
a public officer when he acts in the performance of such a public duty as
the marriage of two individuals; 4 Conn. 209; and he is merely a private
person when he acts in his more ordinary calling of teaching his
congregation. See 4 Conn. 134; 1 Apple. 155.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
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