officer
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word officer. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word officer, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say officer in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word officer you have here. The definition of the word officer will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofofficer, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
A group of customs officers
See also: Officer
English
Etymology
From Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Old French officer, Late Latin officiarius (“official”), from Latin officium (“office”) + -ārius (“-er”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɒfɪsə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɔfɪsɚ/
- (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈɑfɪsɚ/
- (dialectal, informal) IPA(key): /ˈɒfsə/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: of‧fi‧cer
Noun
officer (plural officers)
- One who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police or government organizations.
- A respectful term of address for an officer, especially a police officer.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
- One who holds a public office.
- An agent or servant imparted with the ability, to some degree, to act on initiative.
- (colloquial, military) A commissioned officer.
Derived terms
- accountable disbursing officer
- accountable officer
- animal control officer
- brother-officer
- bylaw officer
- careers officer
- case officer
- chief executive officer
- chief experience officer
- chief financial officer
- chief information officer
- chief legal officer
- chief operating officer
- chief petty officer
- chief petty officer first class
- chief petty officer second class
- chief technical officer
- chief technological officer
- chief technology officer
- civil enforcement officer
- commanding officer
- commissioned officer
- community police officer
- correctional officer
- correction officer
- corrections officer
- customs officer
- detention officer
- dog officer
- duty officer
- executive officer
- field officer
- first officer
- flag officer
- flying officer
- general officer
- grounds officer
- guest relation officer
- honorary officer
- house officer
- intelligence officer
- judicial officer
- liaison officer
- line officer
- loan officer
- master chief petty officer
- naval officer
- noncommissioned officer
- non-commissioned officer
- officer cadet
- officer down
- officer-involved
- officer-involved shooting
- officerless
- officer-like
- officerly
- officer of the court
- officer of the peace
- outdoor officer
- parole officer
- patrol officer
- peace officer
- penal officer
- petty officer
- petty officer first class
- petty officer second class
- petty officer third class
- pilot officer
- police officer
- press officer
- prison officer
- probation officer
- public information officer
- public officer
- radio officer
- relieving officer
- resource officer
- returning officer
- riding officer
- riot police officer
- sabbatical officer
- school resource officer
- second officer
- security officer
- senior chief petty officer
- sheriff officer
- staff officer
- third officer
- traffic officer
- truant officer
- warrant officer
- warrant officer 2
- warrant officer class 1
- warrant officer class 2
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
one who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization
|
a respectful term of address for an officer, especially a police officer
one who holds a public office
|
agent or servant endowed with the ability to act on initiative
contraction of the term "commissioned officer"
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb
officer (third-person singular simple present officers, present participle officering, simple past and past participle officered)
- (transitive) To supply with officers.
- (transitive) To command as or like an officer.
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 31, in The History of Pendennis. , volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
- Many of our journals are officered by Irish gentlemen, and their gallant brigade does the penning among us, as their ancestors used to transact the fighting in Europe; and engage under many a flag, to be good friends when the battle is over.
- 1929, Robert Graves, chapter 10, in Good-Bye to All That, London: Jonathan Cape, page 115:
- 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.
- 1992, Alasdair Gray, Poor Things, Bloomsbury, published 2002, page 306:
- [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.
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
to command like an officer
Middle English
Alternative forms
- offecer, officeer, officeere, officere, officiare, officier, offiser, offycer, offycere, offyseer, oficer
Etymology
Borrowed from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Latin officiārius; equivalent to office + -er.
Pronunciation
Noun
officer (plural officers)
- A hireling or subordinate; one employed to serve, especially at an estate.
- An official or officeholder; the holder of a prominent office or position.
- A municipal, local or societal official or officeholder.
- A religious or ecclesiastical official or officeholder.
- (religion) A deputy or subordinate of the forces of good or evil.
- (rare) One who supervises or organises jousting.
- (rare) A member or leader of a military force.
Descendants
References
- “offī̆cē̆r, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-20.
Old French
Alternative forms
Noun
officer oblique singular, m (oblique plural officers, nominative singular officers, nominative plural officer)
References
- officer on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
Swedish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Noun
officer c
- officer, a military person of fänrik grade or higher
- (archaic) ämbetsman, tjänsteman; one who holds a public office
Declension
| Declension of officer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | officer | officeren | officerare | officerarna |
| Genitive | officers | officerens | officerares | officerarnas |