Shak.
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.
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.
Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine
office.
Rom. xi. 13.
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.
They [the eyes] resign their office and their light.
Shak.
Hesperus, whose office is to bring Twilight upon the earth.
Milton.
In this experiment the several intervals of the teeth of the comb
do the office of so many prisms.
Sir I. Newton.
5. The place where a particular kind of business or service for others
is transacted; a house or apartment in which public officers and others
transact business; as, the register's office; a lawyer's office.
6. The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose place of
business is in an office; as, I have notified the office.
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.]
As for the offices, let them stand at distance.
Bacon.
8. (Eccl.) Any service other than that of ordination and the Mass; any
prescribed religious service.
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.
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
Of`fice (?), v. t. To perform, as the duties of an office; to
discharge. [Obs.] Shak.
Of"fice*hold"er (?), n. An officer, particularly one in the civil
service; a placeman.
Of"fi*cer (?), n. [F. officier. See Office, and cf. Official, n.] 1.
One who holds an office; a person lawfully invested with an office,
whether civil, military, or ecclesiastical; as, a church officer; a
police officer; a staff officer. "I am an officer of state." Shak.
2. (U. S. Mil.) Specifically, a commissioned officer, in distinction
from a warrant officer.
Field officer, General officer, etc. See under Field, General. etc. --
Officer of the day (Mil.), the officer who, on a given day, has charge
for that day of the quard, prisoners, and police of the post or camp.
-- Officer of the deck, or Officer of the watch (Naut.), the officer
temporarily in charge on the deck of a vessel, esp. a war vessel.
Of"fi*cer, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Officered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Officering.] 1. To furnish with officers; to appoint officers over.
Marshall.
2. To command as an officer; as, veterans from old regiments officered
the recruits.
Of*fi"cial (?), a. [L. officialis: cf. F. officiel. See Office, and cf.
Official, n.] 1. Of or pertaining to an office or public trust; as,
official duties, or routine.
That, in the official marks invested, you Anon do meet the senate.
Shak.
2. Derived from the proper office or officer, or from the proper
authority; made or communicated by virtue of authority; as, an official
statement or report.
3. (Pharm.) Approved by authority; sanctioned by the pharmacopœia;
appointed to be used in medicine; as, an official drug or preparation.
Cf. Officinal.