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office

[aw-fis, of-is]
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noun
  1. a room, set of rooms, or building where the business of a commercial or industrial organization or of a professional person is conducted: the main office of an insurance company; a doctor's office.
  2. a room assigned to a specific person or a group of persons in a commercial or industrial organization: Her office is next to mine.
  3. a business or professional organization: He went to work in an architect's office.
  4. the staff or designated part of a staff at a commercial or industrial organization: The whole office was at his wedding.
  5. a position of duty, trust, or authority, especially in the government, a corporation, a society, or the like: She was elected twice to the office of president.
  6. employment or position as an official: to seek office.
  7. the duty, function, or part of a particular person or agency: to act in the office of adviser.
  8. (initial capital letter) an operating agency or division of certain departments of the U.S. Government: Office of Community Services.
  9. (initial capital letter) British. a major administrative unit or department of the national government: the Foreign Office.
  10. Slang. hint, signal, or warning; high sign.
  11. Often offices. something, whether good or bad, done or said for or to another: He obtained a position through the offices of a friend.
  12. Ecclesiastical.
    1. the prescribed order or form for a service of the church or for devotional use.
    2. the services so prescribed.
    3. Also called divine office.the prayers, readings from Scripture, and psalms that must be recited every day by all who are in major orders.
    4. a ceremony or rite, especially for the dead.
  13. a service or task to be performed; assignment; chore: little domestic offices.
  14. offices, Chiefly British.
    1. the parts of a house, as the kitchen, pantry, or laundry, devoted mainly to household work.
    2. the stables, barns, cowhouses, etc., of a farm.
  15. Older Slang. privy.
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Origin of office

1200–50; Middle English < Old French < Latin officium service, duty, ceremony, presumably contraction of opificium, equivalent to opi-, combining form akin to opus opus + -fic-, combining form of facere to make, do1 + -ium -ium
Related formsof·fice·less, adjectiveout·of·fice, nounsub·of·fice, noun
Can be confusedoffice orifice

Synonyms

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
5. post, station, berth, situation. 7. responsibility, charge, trust. 13. work, duty.

Synonym study

5. See appointment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

serviceworkcommissionjobstationplacepostbuildingshopcenterfacilityagencyfactorybureaudepartmentsuitestoreroomfunctionduty

Examples from the Web for office

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He took me right into his office, and I told him what you said, and he'll be ready for you at two o'clock.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • This business attended to, Robert bent his steps to Mr. Paine's office.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • "You will find my father in his office," she said, looking a little disappointed.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • Going to his office, he was fortunate enough to find him in, and unengaged.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • After a year of that, he'll be taken into the office and his hours will be cut down to eight.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for office

office

noun
    1. a room or set of rooms in which business, professional duties, clerical work, etc, are carried out
    2. (as modifier)office furniture; an office boy
  2. (often plural) the building or buildings in which the work of an organization, such as a business or government department, is carried out
  3. a commercial or professional businessthe architect's office approved the plans
  4. the group of persons working in an officeit was a happy office until she came
  5. (capital when part of a name) (in Britain) a department of the national governmentthe Home Office
  6. (capital when part of a name) (in the US)
    1. a governmental agency, esp of the Federal government
    2. a subdivision of such an agency or of a departmentOffice of Science and Technology
    1. a position of trust, responsibility, or duty, esp in a government or organizationthe office of president; to seek office
    2. (in combination)an office-holder
  8. duty or functionthe office of an administrator
  9. (often plural) a minor task or servicedomestic offices
  10. (often plural) an action performed for another, usually a beneficial actionthrough his good offices
  11. a place where tickets, information, etc, can be obtaineda ticket office
  12. Christianity
    1. (often plural)a ceremony or service, prescribed by ecclesiastical authorities, esp one for the dead
    2. the order or form of these
    3. RC Churchthe official daily service
    4. short for divine office
  13. (plural) the parts of a house or estate where work is done, goods are stored, etc
  14. (usually plural) British euphemistic a lavatory (esp in the phrase usual offices)
  15. in office (of a government) in power
  16. out of office (of a government) out of power
  17. the office slang a hint or signal
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Word Origin

C13: via Old French from Latin officium service, duty, from opus work, service + facere to do
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for office

n.

mid-13c., "a post, an employment to which certain duties are attached," from Anglo-French and Old French ofice "place or function; divine service" (12c. in Old French) or directly from Latin officium "service, kindness, favor; official duty, function, business; ceremonial observance," (in Ecclesiastical Latin, "church service"), literally "work-doing," from ops (genitive opis) "power, might, abundance, means" (related to opus "work;" see opus) + stem of facere "do, perform" (see factitious). Meaning "place for conducting business" first recorded 1560s. Office hours attested from 1841.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with office

office

see box office; front office; land-office business; take office.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.