officer
Pluralofficers
Pluralofficers
Formsofficers, officering, officered
- 1A person who holds a position of authority or responsibility in an organization, especially in the armed forces, the police or government, but also in a company, union or club.
A senior officer reviewed the troops before the parade.
Customs officers inspected every container at the port.
UsageOften after the field it serves: customs officer, police officer, loan officer, press officer.
- 2A person who serves on a police force, of whatever rank.
The officer who arrested him read him his rights in the back of the car.
Officers were called to the bar after a fight broke out shortly before closing.
UsageIn news reports the plural alone often means police: officers were called to the scene.
Similarpoliceman, policewoman
Note
In police work the word covers everyone on the force, from a new recruit on patrol to the chief: it names the job, not a rank. In the armed forces, unless the context says otherwise, an officer is a commissioned officer, set above the enlisted ranks; that is the military side of the authority meaning.
- 3A respectful form of address used when speaking to an officer, especially a police officer.
Is everything all right here, officer?
Officer, the accident happened right at this corner.
UsageUsed on its own to speak to a police officer: excuse me, officer. Before a surname it works as a title: Officer Diaz.
- 4An agent or servant entrusted with the authority to act on their own initiative to some degree.
An officer of the court may act on their own judgment within set limits.
Unlike the tellers, the bank's loan officers had the authority to approve small loans on their own judgment.
Similaragent
Less common meanings
- 5To command or direct people in the manner of an officer.
The regular battalions of the regiment, though officered mainly by Anglo-Welshmen of county families, did not normally contain more than about one Welshman in fifty in the ranks.
1929, Robert Graves, Good-Bye to All That[A]t least a quarter of those who fought and died in the Great War were prosperous with spacious homes, and to this class belonged nearly all who had ordered and officered the carnage.
1992, Alasdair Gray, Poor ThingsNote
The verb is most at home in the passive, officered by. Thackeray writes of journals "officered by Irish gentlemen", and Robert Graves, in Good-Bye to All That (1929), of battalions "officered mainly by Anglo-Welshmen". In those uses it shades into supplying with officers. Alasdair Gray's Poor Things (1992) shows the active form at its sharpest, pairing it with ordered: those who "ordered and officered the carnage".
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Thackeray writes of journals as "officered by Irish gentlemen". gutenberg.org
- Robert Graves wrote Good-Bye to All That, first published in 1929. en.wikipedia.org
- Graves describes battalions as "officered mainly by Anglo-Welshmen" in that book. en.wiktionary.org
- Alasdair Gray wrote Poor Things, published in 1992. en.wikipedia.org
- Poor Things contains the active construction "ordered and officered the carnage". en.wiktionary.org
- 6
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Practice
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Origin
From Middle English officer, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Late Latin officiarius ("official"), which comes from Latin officium ("office") plus the ending -ārius. It can also be seen as office + -er.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Officer comes from Middle English officer through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Late Latin officiarius, meaning "official". en.wiktionary.org
- Officiarius derives from Latin officium, meaning "office", plus -ārius. en.wiktionary.org
- Officer can also be analysed as office + -er. en.wiktionary.org