Office

8 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I would I could do a good office between you.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I
              magnify mine office.                  --Rom. xi. 13.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     6. The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose
        place of business is in an office; as, I have notified the
        office.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {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.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Office \Of`fice\, v. t.
     To perform, as the duties of an office; to discharge. [Obs.]
     --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  Office
       
          {Microsoft Office}
       
       

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  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. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  OFFICE, INQUEST OF. An examination into a matter by an officer in virtue of 
  his office. Vide Inquisition. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  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.