# office

Pronunciation: US say "AW-fis" /ˈɔ.fɪs/; UK/AUS say "OF-is" /ˈɒf.ɪs/

## Noun

1. A room, set of rooms, or building where people do administrative, clerical, or professional work.
   - Simple: A room or building where people work at desks, doing things like paperwork or computer work.
   - _The accountant's office was lined with filing cabinets and ledgers._
   - _After the merger, the company moved its payroll staff into a larger office across town._
2. A position of authority or responsibility, especially a public or government post, or the time during which someone holds it.
   - Simple: An important job with power, especially in government, or the time someone has that job.
   - _She has held the office of secretary for two terms._
   - _The bylaws describe the duties of each office in the association._
3. A particular branch or location of a larger white-collar business or organization.
   - Simple: One of the places where a company or organization does its work, such as its branch in one city.
   - _The firm's Tokyo office reported record profits last quarter._
   - _Layoffs hit the regional offices harder than headquarters._
4. A department of a business, government, or other organization, thought of as a unit; in Britain, also the name of some government ministries, such as the Home Office.
   - Simple: A part of a company, government or other group that does one kind of work.
   - _The admissions office reviews every application twice._
   - _Her complaint worked its way through three different offices before anyone responded._
5. A room or building where tickets or services are sold to the public.
   - Simple: A room or small building where people can buy tickets or pay for services.
   - _Lines formed outside the office an hour before the ferry tickets went on sale._
   - _Residents can pay their water bills at the office on Main Street._
6. A room or suite where a physician sees patients for consultation and diagnosis, rather than for surgery or other major procedures. *(US)*
   - Simple: The place where you see a doctor for a checkup or to talk about a health problem.
   - _She visited her dermatologist's office for a routine skin check._
   - _Minor procedures can be done in the office, but major operations happen at the hospital._
7. The staff of an office or workplace, considered as a single group.
   - Simple: All the people who work in a workplace, thought of as one group.
   - _The entire office attended her retirement party on Friday._
   - _The office voted to donate its holiday fund to the food bank._
8. A duty, charge, or role that belongs to someone because of their position or station.
   - Simple: A duty or job that someone must do because of their position.
   - _The committee chair reminded everyone that it was not her office to settle personal quarrels between members._
   - _He performed the office of host with quiet grace, refilling glasses and steering conversation._
11. A helpful act performed for someone; a kindness or service rendered.
   - Simple: A kind act or favor that you do for someone.
   - _The dispute was finally settled through the good offices of a mutual friend._
   - _The peace talks began only through the good offices of a neutral country that both sides trusted._
12. A form of Christian worship set by a church, especially the daily prayers said at fixed hours or a service for a particular occasion, such as the Office for the Dead.
   - Simple: A church service of set prayers, especially the prayers said at fixed times each day.
   - _The new hymnal includes the full office for evening worship._
   - _Reformers argued that the office should be conducted in the language of the people._
13. The final rites and duties carried out for a person who is dying or has died, such as washing or anointing the body.
   - Simple: The last ceremonies and duties done for a person who is dying or has died.
   - _Her sisters performed the last office themselves, anointing the body before the funeral._
   - _No one was left in the plague-struck town to perform the last offices for the dead._
14. A ceremonial duty, act, or service performed on a formal or religious occasion.
   - Simple: A special duty or ceremony that someone performs at a formal or religious event.
   - _The herald discharged his office with great solemnity at the coronation._
   - _In the old ceremony, the office of crowning the new king fell to the senior bishop, who also anointed him with oil._
17. Inside information; a private tip or warning passed quietly from one person to another. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Secret information passed on by someone who really knows what is happening.

## Verb

9. To provide a person or group with office space in which to work.
   - Simple: To give someone a room or place to work in.
   - _The startup offices its engineers in a converted warehouse downtown._
   - _We can office the visiting consultants next to the design team._
10. To have or work out of an office, especially in a particular place.
   - Simple: To have an office or work from one, especially in a particular place.
   - _The firm's partners office on the top two floors of the tower._
   - _He offices in Dallas but flies to Houston weekly._

## Noun

15. The parts of a house or estate given over to work and storage, such as the kitchen, scullery, laundry, and stables; in dated euphemistic use, its lavatories or outhouses. *(dated)*
   - Simple: The working rooms of a big house, such as the kitchen and laundry. Also a polite old word for the toilets.
   - _The advertisement for the house promised four bedrooms and the usual offices._
   - _The old house had extensive domestic offices, including a dairy, a brewhouse, and a laundry, all reached by a back passage from the kitchen._
16. The function of something; whatever a thing typically does or is expected to do. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The job or purpose that something is meant to do.
18. A person holding office, or a body of such people; also, figuratively, officeholders spoken of as a single person. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An official, or a group of officials acting together.
19. The cockpit of a plane, particularly the cockpit occupied by an observer. *(dated, UK)*
   - Simple: The part of a plane where the pilot or the observer sits.
   - _Rain hammered the canopy as he settled into the office for the night patrol._
   - _The gunner squeezed back into his office behind the long-range fuel tanks._
20. A place where someone is habitually found; a usual haunt or hangout. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The place where a person can usually be found.
   - _The old sailor's office was the bench nearest the harbor wall._
   - _You'll find her at her office, the back booth of the coffee house._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Business software for desk work, such as a word processor, spreadsheet program and slideshow software; used before a noun, as in office suite.
- (noun) Short for Holy Office.
- (noun) Clipping of inquest of office.
- (noun) The Eucharist service, especially its opening chant, known as the introit.
- (noun) Hunting ground, or the territory a gamekeeper is in charge of.
- (noun) A natural function of the body, especially passing urine or emptying the bowels, or a single act of this.
- (noun) The act of doing what you are bound to do, or a single such act.

## Origin

It comes from Latin officium, meaning a personal or official duty, position, or function, which passed into English through Old French office and Middle English office. The Latin word was contracted from opificium ("the act of building"), from opifex ("doer of work, craftsman"), built from op- ("work") and a form of faciō ("to do, to make"). The computing sense generalizes proprietary program suites such as Microsoft Office.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/office (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).