office

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A room or building where people work, usually at desks.

   She works in a large office in the city centre.

2. 2
   noun

   An important position of authority, especially in government.

   He held the office of mayor for eight years.

3. 3
   noun

   The state of being in a position of power.

   The party has been in office since the last election.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Office ultimately comes from Latin officium, “performance of a task,” formed from elements related to opus, “work,” and facere, “to do.” In medieval English it first meant a duty attached to a position or employment. The sense “place where business is conducted” appeared later in the Middle Ages.

From Middle English office, from Old French office, from Latin officium (“personal, official, or moral duty; official position; function; ceremony, esp. last rites”), contracted from opificium (“construction: the act of building or the thing built”), from opifex (“doer of work, craftsman”) + -ium (“-y”, forming actions), from op- (“work”) + -i- (connective) + -fex (combining form of faciō (“to do, to make”)). The computing sense is a genericization of various proprietary program suites, such as Microsoft Office.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary