officer

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈɔfɪsɚ/ UK /ˈɒf.ɪ.sə/ See IPA manual

Freq #732

Meanings

1

noun
A member of the police.

A police officer stopped us to ask for directions.
2

noun
A person who holds a position of command in the armed forces.

He served as an army officer for twenty years.
3

noun
A person who holds a position of authority in an organization.

She was elected as an officer of the student union.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a member of the police. police officer policeman

2 noun · a person who holds a... military officer

3 noun · a person who holds a... officeholder

More conduct direct manage

Word family

Forms officers

Derived forms brother-officernonofficerofficer-involvedofficer-likeofficeressofficerhoodofficerismofficerlessofficerlikeofficerlyofficershipsubofficer

Related forms concooffice official officiate

Appears in

Phrases (3)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Old French officer, Late Latin officiarius (“official”), from Latin officium (“office”) + -ārius (“-er”). By surface analysis, office + -er.

*h₃ep- Proto-Indo-European officer Middle English officiarius la-lat officium Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# officer

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɔfɪsɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɒf.ɪ.sə/
**Frequency rank:** 732

## Meanings
1. A member of the police.
2. A person who holds a position of command in the armed forces.
3. A person who holds a position of authority in an organization.

## Examples
- A police officer stopped us to ask for directions.
- He served as an army officer for twenty years.
- She was elected as an officer of the student union.

## Synonyms
- conduct
- direct
- manage

## Derived Forms
- brother-officer
- nonofficer
- officer-involved
- officer-like
- officeress
- officerhood
- officerism
- officerless
- officerlike
- officerly
- officership
- subofficer

## Related Forms
- co
- nco
- office
- official
- officiate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₃ep-
- Root: officer
- Root: officiarius
- Root: officium

## Etymology
From Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Old French officer, Late Latin officiarius (“official”), from Latin officium (“office”) + -ārius (“-er”). By surface analysis, office + -er.

## AI Etymology
Officer comes from Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Old French officer, Late Latin officiarius (“official”), from Latin officium (“office”) + -ārius (“-er”). By surface analysis, office + -er. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-, Middle English officer, xno officer, Old French officer, la-lat officiarius, and Latin officium. Modern senses include a member of the police and a person who holds a position of command in the armed forces. The wider word family includes derivatives such as brother-officer, nonofficer, officer-involved, officer-like, officeress, and officerhood and related forms such as co, nco, office, and official.

## Topics
- People & Society

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