| 释义 |
▪ I. office, n.|ˈɒfɪs|
Also 3 offiz, 3–4 -is, 4 -iss, -ise, -ys, ofice, 4–6 offyce, (5 offyz, -ez, -esse, offic, ofic, 6 offes, pl. 6–7 officies).
[a. AF. and OF. office (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.) = Sp. oficio, It. officio, uffizio, ad. L. officium service, duty, function, ceremonial observance, business, place, appointment, in med.L. also service prescribed by the Church, introit, ecclesiastical court, building or place for work; f. ob- (ob- 1 a) + -ficium doing.]
1. Something done toward any one; a service, kindness, attention. Chiefly with qualification, as good office, kind office; office of kindness, etc. Hence with adj. of the opposite kind, as ill, etc.: A disservice.
1382Wyclif 2 Cor. ix. 12 For the mynysterie of this office..aboundith by manye in doynge of thankingis to the Lord. 1575Queen Elizabeth in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. 1. II. 278 Which we have hitherto forborne to graunt..for the evell offices whiche her other Secretary did there. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. ii. 137 Little office Will the hatefull Commons performe for vs. 1598― Merry W. i. i. 102, I would I could doe a good office betweene you. 1655Sir M. Langdale in Nicholas Papers (Camden) III. 128 He suspectes father Talbot hath donne him some ill office. 1674Essex Papers (Camden) I. 222, I know..that..y⊇ design of getting themselves into y⊇ place will encourage divers to doe me spightfull Offices. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. II. xliv. 505 Those ill offices which his enemies..could employ against him. 1877Sparrow Serm. x. 128 Making men capable of mutual offices of kindness. 1887Jessopp Arcady ii. 33 In return she gets some little kindly office done for her.
2. That which one ought, or has, to do in the way of service; that which is required or expected:
†a. gen. Duty towards others; a moral obligation (obs.).
b. Duty attaching to one's station, position, or employment; a duty, service, or charge falling or assigned to one; a service or task to be performed; business; function, one's part.
a1300Cursor M. 28366, I..did min office na-þe-lese Þat vn-despensed sang i messe. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 55 Forto reise þe treuage..Pader & Thurston to þat office were fette. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxv. 114 Ilkane wate what he schall do and bisily tentez till þaire officez. 1483Caxton Cato I v b, Thou oughtest to be swete gracious and humble in thyn offyce or seruyse. 1534Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 27 Honesty, that is the offyce and dutie of man. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 61 To thentent yt he worthely might be called a king, whose office is to rule and not to be ruled of other. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 13 Doe you your office, or giue vp your Place. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 183/1 To make a Helm is the Office of a Ship-wright, but to use it rightly of a Pilot. 1699J. Jackson in Pepys' Diary VI. 212 The Cardinal de Bouillon, appointed by the Pope to perform this office in his stead. a1756E. Haywood New Present (1771) 252 Her next office..is to rub the stove and fire-irons. 1832H. Martineau Hill & Valley v. 73 He..had..taken upon him the preacher's office. 1878Gladstone Prim. Homer viii. 111 They exercise the offices of the judge, the priest, the counsellor.
†c. Performance of a duty or function, service, attendance. Obs.
c1320Sir Beues 3555 (MS. A.) Þanne eueriche marchal His ȝerde an honde bere schal. While Beues was in þat office Þe kinges sone..A ȝede to Beues stable. 1535Coverdale 1 Kings x. 5 Whan the Quene of riche Arabia sawe all the wyszdome of Salomon..& the offyces of his ministers, and their garmentes..she wondred exceadingly. 1621Quarles Div. Poems, Esther (1638) 104 We gave command..That by the office of our Eunuchs band, Queen Vashti should in state attended be.
3. a. That which is done or is intended to be done by a particular thing; that which anything is fitted to perform, or performs customarily; = function n. 3.
1340Ayenb. 50 Þe mouþ heþ tuo offices, huer-of þe on belongeþ to þe zuelȝ..Þe oþer zuo is in speche. 1390Gower Conf. III. 85 The laste science..is Practique, whos office The vertu tryeth fro the vice. 1546Bp. Gardiner Declar. Joye 80 Then do you..offende in deuising the wordes (office and correlatiue) to signifie what fayth doth. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 320/2 It hath its name Cooler, from its Office, which is to cool the Hot Wort. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 247 It sometimes happens, that when the animal is interrupted in performing the offices of exclusion, the young ones burst the shell within the parent's body. 1830R. Knox Béclard's Anat. 198 The office of the arteries is to lead the blood from the heart into all the parts of the body.
†b. A bodily or mental function as operating; the proper action of an organ or faculty. Obs.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. ii. 4 (Camb. MS.) Whan she say me..with-owten office of tunge and al dowmb. c1425Found. St. Bartholomew's 52 The same day was restorid to hym the office of his tonge. 1604Shakes. Oth. iii. iv. 113 Whom I, with all the Office of my heart Intirely honour. a1656Ussher Ann. vi. (1658) 778 A certain young man, who wanted his armes..performed all things by the office of his feet.
†c. spec. The function or action of discharging excrement, etc.; excretion. Obs. (Cf. house of office, house n. 14 b.)
c1386Chaucer Wife's Prol. 127 They beth maked for bothe That is to seye for office and for ese Of engendrure. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 623 Washing themselves, as they doe also after the offices of Nature.
4. a. A position or place to which certain duties are attached, esp. one of a more or less public character; a position of trust, authority, or service under constituted authority; a place in the administration of government, the public service, the direction of a corporation, company, society, etc.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 2071 Ðu salt ben ut of prisun numen, And on ðin offiz set aȝen. a1300Cursor M. 25031 Pilate was o gret officis [v.r. office] for ouer Iuus he was iustis. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxx. 136 Ilkane of þam hase sum office in þe emperour courte. 1433Rolls of Parlt. IV. 476/2 Chosen to the Office of Corouner. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 135 b, The duke of Yorke was discharged of the office of Regent. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, 38 He was taken into service in his court to a base office in his kitchen. 1771Junius Lett. xlix. 255, I..do not esteem you the more for the high office you possess. 1855Prescott Philip II, ii. ix. (1857) 305 He avowed his purpose of throwing up..all the offices he held under government. 1874Green Short Hist. Epil. 819 The claims of the Nonconformists were met in 1868..by the abolition of all religious tests for admission to offices or degrees in the Universities.
b. In absolute sense: Official position or employment; spec. that of a minister of state. Hence to take office, leave office, etc. man of office, an officer or official. Jack in (out of) office: see Jack n.1 37.
† of office (L. ex officio), by virtue of office, officially. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9600 To abbe men in offis Mid him þat of conseil were god and wis. a1300Cursor M. 27170 Man of office or dignite..werlds man, or clerc. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 21 It is ordeynede..what brother of yis gilde be chosen in to office. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6959 He kepyd þe kirk of office. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 302 A straunger and alyant, put in offyce by the Romayns. 1607Shakes. Timon i. ii. 208 Would I were Gently put out of Office, before I were forc'd out. 1784Cowper Task iv. 412 The rugged frowns and insolent rebuffs Of knaves in office. 1845Disraeli Sybil iv. xiv. II. 306 ‘Peel ought to have taken office’, said Lord Marney. 1880McCarthy Own Times IV. lviii. 259 He had come into office at the head of a powerful party.
c. Personified, or denoting an office-holder or office-holders as a body.
1602Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 73 The insolence of Office. 1634Massinger Very Woman iii. ii, Now, master Office, What is the reason that your vigilant Greatness..locked up from me The way to see my mistress? 1765Beattie Judgm. Paris cii, Coward Office..sneaks secure in insolence of state. 1781Cowper Charity 484 Except that Office clips it as it goes.
5. A ceremonial duty or service; a religious or social observance; esp. the rite or rites due to the dead, obsequies; now chiefly in last office(s).
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 459 No fader folweþ þe offys of his sones deeþ [L. filii comitatur exsequias]. 1535Coverdale 1 Chron. xxix. 14 Golde (gaue he him)..for all maner of vessels of euery offyce. 1618Rowlands Sacred Mem. 37 To show their loue in this last office done To a dead friend. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vii. §10 The other great offices wherein their Religion did so much consist, viz. Sacrifices, distinction of meats, observation of Festivals, circumcision, and such like. 1711Addison Spect. No. 135 ⁋1 An eminent Person..used in his private Offices of Devotion to give Thanks to Heaven that he was born a Frenchman. 1822Scott Nigel xxxvi, I..will be first to render thee the decent offices due to the dead.
6. Eccl. An authorized form of divine service or worship:
a. The daily service of the Roman breviary, comprising psalms, collects, and lections for the several canonical hours, which vary with the day (more fully Divine Office); in the Church of England, Morning and Evening Prayer. to say office, to recite the Divine Office.
b. The introit, sung at the begining of the Mass or Holy Communion; also, the whole service of the Mass or Holy Communion.
c. Any occasional service, as the Office for the Dead, Office for Baptism, Office for the Visitation of the Sick, etc.; also, a special form of service appointed for some particular occasion.
c1290Becket 942 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 133 Þis holi man..song ane Masse of seinte steuene..Þe furste offiz is propre inov: to þe stat þat he was Inne. a1340Hampole Psalter xxii. 7 Þis psalme is songen in þe office of ded men. c1375Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B) 86 Bi þis tyme..þo prest bigynnes office of messe. Ibid. 581 Þo preste turnes til his seruyce And saies forthe more of his office. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer 121 The office, or Introite (as they call it). 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 60 The byshoppe of Cauntorbery came sodenly to Powlles..and dyd the offes hym selfe in a cope and no vestment, nor mytter, nor crosse, but a crose staffe. 1663Chas. II in Julia Cartwright Henrietta of Orleans (1894) 150 She is not only content to say the greate office in the breviere, every day. 1683Evelyn Mem. 9 Sept., It being the day of publiq thanksgiving for his Majesty's late preservation..there was an office us'd, compos'd for the occasion. a1746in Wesley Princ. Methodist 29 Whoever..does not worship God in the Manner she prescribes..must be supposed to slight and contemn her Offices and Rules. 1845Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) II. 246 The celebration of marriage in this country according to the office of the Church. 1850A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 149 Every day she recited the Office of the Virgin. 1859Jephson Brittany ix. 142 Proceeded to sing the office of the dead. 1896Ch. Times 13 Nov. 520/4 There is an office for the reopening of a church in the Priest's Prayer-book.
7. An official inquest or inquiry concerning any matter that entitles the king to the possession of lands or chattels: = inquest of office, inquest 1 b. to find († take, † return) an office, to return a verdict showing that the king is thus entitled. office found, a verdict having this effect.
1432Rolls of Parlt. IV. 396/2 Of the which Maner the saide Oratrice..be an office was put out. 1472–3Ibid. VI. 25/2 That all Offices founden of the premisses or of any of theym..be..voide. 1509–10Act 1 Hen. VIII, c. 8 Diverse..have been..disherited by escheatours and commyssyoners causyng untrue offices to be founden. 1607Cowell Interpr., Office doth signifie..also an Inquisition made to the Kings vse of any thing by vertue of his office who inquireth. And therefore wee oftentimes reade of an office found, which is nothing but such a thing found by Inquisition made ex officio. a1645Habington Surv. Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) iii. 531 Bewdley..became..the joynter of hys widowe..as was found by an office after her descesse. 1768Blackstone Comm. III. xvii. 259 If they find the treason or felony..of the party accused..the king is thereupon, by virtue of this office found, intitled to have his forfeitures. 1877Burroughs Taxation 277 There may be a forfeiture without such office found.
8. a. A place for the transaction of private or public business of some kind; often including the ‘staff’ by which the business is conducted, or denominating the department of which they are officers. Applied to the room or department in which the clerkly work of an industrial or other establishment is done, a counting-house; also to that in which the business of any particular department of the operations of a large concern is conducted, as the booking-office, goods office, inquiry office, lost property office, superintendent's office, etc. at a railway station. Formerly used of the court of an ecclesiastical official, as still of a police court (police office); now, often preceded by a possessive case, or combined with a n. indicating the business or purpose, as collector's, inspector's, surveyor's, town clerk's office; assay-, box-, coach-, Crown-, fire-, post-, telegraph-office, etc. The more important of these are noticed as combinations under the first element or as main words.
c1386Chaucer Friar's T. 279, I wol han .xij. pens..Or I wol sompne hire vn-to oure office. c1440Promp. Parv. 363/1 Offyce, or place of offyce, officina. 1521in Foxe A. & M. (1583) 822/1 Whether she was euer detected to the office of Willi. Smith late Bishop of Lincolne. 1611Bible 2 Chron. xxiv. 11 At what time the chest was brought vnto the kings office. 1625Massinger New Way iv. iii, A debt to which My vows, in that high office registered, Are faithful witnesses. 1631[see Crown office]. 1642Assurance-office [see assurance 5]. 1735Pope Donne Sat. ii. 71 His Office keeps your Parchment fates entire. 1819Keats Let. to Reynolds 22 Sept. in Ld. Houghton Life (1848) II. 26 There will be some of the family waiting for you at the coach-office. 1849Thackeray Pendennis xxxv, The ‘Pall Mall Gazette’ had its offices..in Catherine street. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 131 The offices [of the East India Company] which stood on a very small part of the ground which the present offices cover. 1885Law Times Rep. LIII. 459/1 Griffith, having taken offices a few doors off, also carried on the business of a solicitor.
fig.1665Needham Med. Medicinæ 382 The Liver is not the office of Sanguification.
b. Sometimes transferred from the place of business to the company or corporation there established, as in assurance or insurance office (cf. the post office).
1646Insuring-Office [see insuring vbl. n.]. 1651–1841 Insurance Office [see insurance 5]. 1693Assurance Office [see insure v. 4 c]. 1782(title) The Phœnix Fire Office. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy-Bk. Prop. Law v. 29 The tenant's..insuring in an office..not authorized by his lease. 1870T. B. Sprague in Jrnl. Inst. Actuaries XVI. 77 The Office assures to him..a sum of money payable in certain contingencies. 1883Chambers' Encycl. V. 601 Proprietary Companies being those offices possessing a capital the property of the partners. Mutual Offices, where the members themselves constitute the company. Mod. In what office are you insured? That is an old-established office.
c. (With capital O.) With defining adj. or attrib. n.: The building or set of rooms in which the business of a department of government administration is carried on, as the Colonial, Foreign, Home, War Office, etc.; the persons engaged in carrying on the business of the department; esp. the responsible head of the department and his immediate coadjutors. See foreign, home, war, etc.; also post office. Also followed by defining phrase, as Office of Works.
1707J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 599 A List of the Officers of the Admiralty-Office. Ibid. 690 The Places where the several Offices are kept..The Treasury Office is in the Cockpit..Stamp-Office, is in Lincolns-Inn Square [etc.]. 1839Penny Cycl. XIV. 116 (London—Public Buildings) Excise Office 1769. Plain in design, but of most commanding aspect. Ibid. State-Paper Offices, St. James's Park. 1863H. Cox Instit. iii. viii. 712 Before [1854]..the civil administration of the army was divided..among the offices of the Secretary of State, the Secretary-at-War, the Ordnance Office, and the Commissariat. Ibid., In 1855 the office of Secretary-at-War was consolidated with that of the Secretary of State for War..The department thus constituted is the existing War Office. Ibid. 713 Officers of the Commissariat..render directly to the Audit Office..accounts of the whole of their cash and store transactions. 1880E. W. Hamilton Diary 11 Sept. (1972) I. 49 His [sc. W. P. Adam's] place will have to be filled up at the Office of Works. 1935Discovery Aug. 217/1 Mr. J. H. Markham, F.R.I.B.A., of H.M. Office of Works, has made a notable addition to London's public monuments. 1936Ibid. July 199/1 A change in the Office of Works which archaeologists cannot but view with regret.
d. Holy Office (R.C. Ch.), an ecclesiastical tribunal for the suppression of heresy and punishment of heretics: = inquisition 3.
1727–41Chambers Cycl., Inquisition or the Holy Office. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xvi, A true instrument of arrestation from the Holy Office. 1855Prescott Philip II, ii. iii. (1857) 223 A platform was raised..on which were ranged the seats of the inquisitors, emblazoned with the arms of the Holy Office. 1862Longfellow Wayside Inn, Torquemada 112 ‘The Holy Office, then, must intervene!’
e. Aeronaut. slang. The cockpit of an aircraft.
1917‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 123, I strapped our baggage, some new gramophone records, and myself into the observer's office. Ibid. 161, I withdraw into ‘the office’, otherwise the observer's cockpit. 1918Blackw. Mag. Oct. 526/2 ‘Wouf!’—a deafening crash, and the old bus shakes violently as I put my head into the office. 1934V. M. Yeates Winged Victory iv. 34 He put his head in the office and flew by the instruments. 1941[see greenhouse 3]. 1942‘B. J. Ellan’ Spitfire! p. x, The cockpit is called the office. 1966New Statesman 13 May 687/2 ‘Up in the office they too knew it.’ ‘The office? You mean the flight deck?’ ‘Just that. No more. No less. The office.’
9. a. pl. The parts of a house, or buildings attached to a house, specially devoted to household work or service; the kitchen and rooms connected with it, as pantry, scullery, cellars, laundry, and the like; also, often including stables and other outhouses, the barns and cowhouses of a farm, etc.
[c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 208 Houses of office stuffed with plentee Ther maystow seen of deynteuous vitaille.] a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 74 Pitcher house, Larder and Poultrie, and all other offices large and faire. 1662Gerbier Princ. 36 The Kitchin or other Offices and Selleridge. 1798Times 28 June 4/3 To be sold..a..freehold house, with..numerous attached and detached offices of every description. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 52 The offices are also improved..forming generally a square behind the dwelling-house, with the dunghill or straw-yard in the center. 1846Mrs. Gore Eng. Char. (1852) 57 As he passed by the areas of the fashionable squares, and imbibed the aroma of stews and ragoûts issuing from the offices. 1881Russell Haigs Introd. 7 The usual outbuildings and Offices which such fortified places contained.
b. sing. A privy. Cf. ease 8 b. Also in pl.; spec. in phr. usual office(s).
1727(title) The Grand Mystery..proposals for erecting 500 Publick Offices of Ease in London and Westminster. 1871E. Jenkins Ginx's Baby i. (1879) 9 The forty-five big and little lodgers in the house were provided with a single office in the corner of the yard. 1938N. Marsh Artists in Crime vi. 84, I imagine it was to pay a visit to the usual offices. 1948J. Cannan Little I Understood ix. 124 Mildred had been too shy when Adam, indicating a door, had said, ‘‘The usual offices’..,’ to open the door and look in. 1951N. Marsh Opening Night ix. 220, I went to the usual office at the end of the passage. 1955N. Fitzgerald House is Falling xi. 188 He was having the usual offices in his house duplicated. 1957J. Braine Room at Top i. 13 The bathroom's to the right and the usual offices next to it. 1959W. Golding Free Fall ii. 36 There are the usual offices indoors now. 1963Gloss. Gen. Building Terms (B.S.I.) 10 ‘Offices’ (deprecated), service rooms and W.C.s.
†10.
a. A keeper's beat. Obs.
1617Assheton Jrnl. (Chetham Soc.) 60 All hunt in James Whitendales office.
b. transf. (See quot.) slang. Obs.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v., His Office, any Man's ordinary Haunt, or Plying-place, be it Tavern, Ale-house, Gaming-house.
11. slang. A hint, signal, or private intimation; esp. in phr. to give (or take) the office.
1803Sporting Mag. XXI. 327 Giving the office—is when you suffer any person, who may stand behind your chair, to look over your hand. 1811Lex Bal. s.v., To give the office; to give information, or make signs to the officers to take a thief. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Office, a hint, signal or private intimation..to take the office, is to understand and profit by the hint given. 1841J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk II. 258 Playing us foul, and giving the office to the Philistines. 1890‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xiv, Ride about the country till I give you the office. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 112/2 The dropping of the hands is called ‘giving the office’ to start [a four-horse coach].
12. attrib. and Comb.
a. attrib., as (senses 2, 4) office badge, office chair, office duty, † office-fellow; (sense 6) office-book; (sense 8) office bell, office boy (also in extended use), office building, office clerk, office copy (spec. see quot. 1957), office desk, office drawing, office door, office equipment, office expenses, office furniture, office girl, office job, office politics, office routine, office stool, office work, etc.;
b. objective and obj. genitive, as (sense 4) office giver, office-holder, office-holding, office-hunter, office-hunting, office-jobbing, office-mongering, office-seeker, office-seeking; office-holding, office-seeking adj.; (sense 8) office-cleaner, office-keeper, office worker; office-bound adj. Also office-bearer, -house, etc.
1594Contention ii. ii. 25 This my staffe, mine *Office badge in Court.
1841J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk II. 71 A brass plate with ‘*office-bell’ upon it.
1869Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xi. 30 The two chief ministers of the funeral ceremony..bearing their *office-books in their hands.
1961Times 12 Oct. 16/2 The bliss of an *office-bound youngster. 1972Daily Tel. 24 Apr. 25/1 ‘I couldn't bear being office-bound from nine to five each day’ is the cry of many a sixth-former.
1846Knickerbocker XXVII. 457 No songs for you, my sad street-sweeper!.. Nor for you, melancholy *office-boy! 1865A. J. Munby Diary 15 June in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 209 She kept on writing, in a hand like an office-boy's. 1899Westm. Gaz. 17 Apr. 4/1 The officials [in New York] intend to dismiss the large force of office boys in the various departments and replace them by office girls. 1914G. B. Shaw Misalliance p. lxv, An office boy of fifteen is often more of a man than a university student of twenty. Ibid. 7, I said, ‘Make him the Office Boy.’ 1944J. S. Huxley On Living in Revolution 118 Quoting from a recent address of David Lilienthal... ‘An overcentralized administration is always characterized by the fact that its field officers tend to become messengers and office boys.’ 1973A. Behrend Samarai Affair i. 15 His first job had been that of office boy. 1975Times 13 Oct. 13/1 Mr [Ian] Smith..has to demonstrate to his hard-liners that he is not Pretoria's office-boy.
1840Niles' Reg. 23 May 182/1 The Free Trader *office building has been crushed in and much shattered. 1924R. Graves Mock Beggar Hall 62, I was aware that during the war Mock-Beggar Hall had been used as a Government office-building. 1942London Replanned (R. Academy) 25/1 The Surrey bank of the River is developed with Embankment gardens and office buildings.
a1715Wycherley Posth. Wks. (1728) 168 How many Sots have had the Luck to wear A Chain of Gold, and fill the *Office-Chair! 1874‘H. Churton’ Toinette xl. 404 The old surgeon laid down his pen..and turned his office-chair round toward his visitor.
1899Daily News 21 Apr. 5/2 Charwomen, *office-cleaners, pensioners. 1944Times 7 June 2/2 Mr. E. Granville..asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he would arrange that..the members of the Government Minor and Manipulative Grades Association of Office Cleaners were referred to as such, and not as charwomen or charladies, which term..was resented. 1971J. Aitken Nightly Deadshade vii. 79 Here I am, on the spot after the office cleaners have cleared off. 1974Times 4 Jan. 12/3 There are practically no Hutu left in government or the civil service—not even at chauffeur or office-cleaner level.
1880G. Meredith Tragic Com. (1881) 126 ‘Am I not precise as an *office clerk?’ she said.
1789J. Morgan Essays Law of Evidence I. 87 Of *Office Copies. 1836S. F. Austin Let. 22 Nov. in Ann. Rep. Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1907 (1908) II. 142 It contains your commission, a letter of credence to the secretary of the United States, and office copies of them. 1848Wharton Law Lex., Office copy, a transcript of a proceeding filed in the proper office of a court under the seal of such office. 1928F. M. Ford Let. 16 Apr. (1965) 178, I don't know if you have..an office copy that you would care to sell. 1946J. Irving Royal Navalese 126 Office copy, the, the other half (of the drink in hand). 1957Clark & Gottfried University Dict. Business & Finance 246/1 Office copy, in general, a copy or transcript of any document..retained for office use. In law, a copy of a document made by an officer of the court or other public officer.
1881Rep. Indian Affairs (U.S.) 151 The articles manufactured by the carpenters..were as follows..one *office-desk [etc.]. 1907G. B. Shaw John Bull's Other Island i. 3 Against the right hand wall is a filing cabinet,..and, nearer, a tall office desk and stool for one person. 1954T. S. Eliot Confid. Clerk ii. 69 It's an office desk. Sir Claude got it for me... You see, I shall do a good deal of my work here.
1715Boston News-Let. 11 Apr. 2/2 A fair Alphabetical List..hung up at the *Office Door, would soon resolve any Person. 1863‘E. Kirke’ My Southern Friends xxiii. 235 A short rap came at the office door.
1855Ecclesiologist XVI. 294 Mr. Slater sends an *office-drawing..of a projected cathedral for South Australia.
1672Owen Disc. Evang. Love 221 If it be not part of their *Office-Duty, to walk over them. a1885G. B. McClellan Own Story (1887) xxxii. 534 He said that he was so much occupied with office-duty that it was impossible for him to leave.
1942D. Powell Time to be Born (1943) ii. 44 The profits..had been.. put back into the business, new *office equipment, printing, one thing and another. 1962D. Francis Dead Cert x. 115 It had once been an elegant room and even the office equipment could not entirely spoil its proportions. 1972Guardian 7 June 9/6 There is really no reason why office equipment shouldn't be good looking enough to go into private houses too.
1869Bradshaw's Railway Manual XXI. 161 Expended..*Office expenses, &c—{pstlg}438. 1887‘Mark Twain’ Lett. to Publishers (1967) 233 On first 10,000, we deduct $5,000 office expenses and $1750 for author. 1972P. Griffin A-Z Office Guide 86 They [sc. IOUs] should not be allowed to build up to a point when cash becomes short for office expenses.
1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices iii. (1558) 138 b As yet Aquilius, my *office felowe, and familiar, had not sette forth the cases, that shoulde be counted couine.
1903G. B. Shaw Man & Superman ii. 66 If you were to marry the son of an English manufacturer of *awffice furniture, your friends would consider it a misalliance. 1911Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 4 Apr. 4/4 (Advt.), We are selling lots of office furniture these days. 1974N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 188 A dislike of metal office furniture.
1863A. D. Whitney Faith Gartney's Girlhood xi. 97 Faith looked up, and remembered the poor *office girl of three years since. 1972J. McClure Caterpillar Cop xii. 193 Ye Olde Englishe Tea Shoppe..was crowded with office girls, buying roast beef sandwiches with luncheon vouchers.
1817W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) I. 392, I should not like to have my name hackneyed about among the office-seekers and *office-givers at Washington.
1818H. B. Fearon Sk. Amer. 143 Those dangerous abuses in government, introduced by *office⁓holders, which..threaten..to become inveterate. 1854J. L. Stephens Centr. Amer. (1854) 4 Office-holders, civil and military. 1860Motley Netherl. (1868) I. i. 12 The office holders..were not greedy for the spoils of office. 1957P. Worsley Trumpet shall Sound 269 The tendency of the office-holder to merge his personal interests with those of his office. 1970R. Lowell Notebk. 56 The communist committed to his commune, Artist and office-holder to a claque of less Than fifty souls.
1835D. Crockett Acct. Col. Crockett's Tour 106 The *office-holding gentry..will meet with their match in an indignant people. 1857[see office-seeking]. 1890Gross Gild Merch. I. 110 Their anxiety to be rid of the burden of office-holding. 1936Discovery Feb. 63/1 The burden of compulsory office-holding ruined the well-to-do. 1957V. W. Turner Schism & Continuity in Afr. Society iv. 93 Social Drama I illustrates the conflict that may arise..when only a few men remain in the senior, office holding generation in a village.
1806Deb. Congress U.S. 24 Feb. (1852) 506/2 It would be a struggle between *office-hunters and the people. 1810W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) I. 243 The crowd of office-hunters. 1845W. L. Mackenzie Lives Butler & Hoyt 75 General Spicer was a keen office-hunter.
1824Niles' Reg. 20 Mar. 37/2 (heading) *Office hunting. 1889Farmer Americanisms 397 Office-hunting is quite a business with the thousand-and-one ‘hangers-on’ to the skirts of political parties. 1923H. Crane Let. 26 Oct. (1965) 153 My mind is divided between them and an *office job. 1937M. Hillis Orchids on your Budget (1938) iv. 68 We ourselves have run our one-woman ménage both with and without an office job.
c1670(title) An Humble Proposal to Parliament against *Office-Jobbing.
1707J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 509 The Lord Privy Seal and his Officers..Richard Fountain, *Office-keeper. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xx, He assured me that I was on the very point of ruin, in listening to the office-keeper's promises. 1834Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. III. 229/1 Has the office-keeper acquainted you with the particulars I require? 1938Times 16 Feb. 8/7 A short time ago a telegram was delivered at my office..after I had left for the day. The office keeper..had it re-telegraphed to my home address.
a1919T. Roosevelt in Ld. Charnwood Theodore Roosevelt (1923) 250 These men have a gift at *office-mongering, just as other men have a peculiar knack in picking pockets.
1917H. Grant Two Sides of Atlantic 45 This is known in the States as ‘*office-politics’. 1961‘J. Wyndham’ Consider her Ways 216 Office politics, very likely... Many a young man's gifts are stunted by them.
1907G. B. Shaw Major Barbara iii. 258 He could learn the *office routine without understanding the business. 1911W. Owen Let. 25 Apr. (1967) 70, I am not too young to..turn to Office Routine, Customs, Revenues. 1925H. Crane Let. 7 May (1965) 204 A change from office routine for awhile.
1813Deb. Congress U.S. 6 Jan. (1853) 582/2 It would augment the *office-seekers, who, with the friends of the Administration, were continually haunting the Executive. 1817[see office-giver]. 1845Knickerbocker XXV. 374 A Friend writing from Washington..give us this pleasant sketch of a ‘Sucker’ office-seeker. 1877Talmage 50 Serm. 2 The office-seekers had all folded-up their recommendations and gone home. 1882–3W. Whitman Specimen Days 259 The members..were..the meanest kind of bawling and blowing office-holders, office-seekers. 1977Listener 11 Aug. 163/1 In 1881..James A. Garfield..was assassinated by a disappointed office-seeker from his own party ranks.
1857W. R. Alger Genius & Posture of Amer. 4 Office⁓holding partisans, *office-seeking demagogues. 1860H. Greeley Overland Journey 68 If he will work right ahead,..keeping clear of speculation and office-seeking, he can hardly fail to do well. 1884Manch. Exam. 16 Oct. 5/2 The office-seeking throng, who do so much to win elections. 1884F. M. Crawford Amer. Politician I. iv. 76 We are sick with the foul disease of office seeking.
1837Dickens Pickw. lv, Wilkins Flasher, Esquire, was balancing himself on two legs of an *office stool. 1907G. B. Shaw John Bull's Other Island i. 13 He seats himself on the office stool, and tilts it back. 1953J. Wain Hurry on Down v. 91 You couldn't rightly say whether a fella was a workman or an office stool percher or a manager.
a1678J. Westley in E. Calamy Continuation of Acct. of Ministers Ejected (1727) I. 441 They are not a People that are fit Subjects, for me to exercise *Office-work among them. 1849Dickens Dav. Copp. (1850) xvi. 167, I am not doing office-work... I am improving my legal knowledge. 1886C. M. Yonge Chantry House II. xiv. 136 He had spent an entire day on his hands and knees..—the office-work, as we declared. 1889Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 130 The greater portion of work done in the Scriptorium was mere office work. 1956‘C. Blackstock’ Dewey Death iv. 83, I cannot see why all the office work should be held up.
1936Discovery May 146/2 The lowest value of natural illumination which an *office worker requires. 1956A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 333 Mechanics and office workers and laborers of many kinds. 1973‘E. McBain’ Hail to Chief viii. 136 The homeward rush of office workers had already begun.
c. Special Combs., as office block, a block (sense 14 f) containing offices; also attrib. and fig.; office hours, (a) the hours of work at an office; (b) a disciplinary session U.S. Forces' slang; office hymn (see quot. 1938); office junior, the youngest or newest member of the staff of an office; office party, a party held for members of the staff of an office; office piano slang, a typewriter; office wife, a business man's female secretary.
1942London Replanned (R. Academy) 26/2 The large octagonal building prominent in the drawing..is a suggested office block with garden court or car park. 1951Ann. Reg. 1950 406 The architectural standard of most of these buildings..was very poor; most of them..resembled pre-war commercial office blocks at their most tasteless. 1963Listener 10 Jan. 71/1 Harry Bertoia's beautiful but boring silvery puffball of wire is the apotheosis of what I once heard called ‘office-block art’—the triumph of taste and craftsmanship over feeling. 1967B. Patten Little Johnny's Confession 47 Maud, is that you I see Alone among the office blocks? 1972M. Gilbert Body of Girl xxv. 211 If there is a covering party, I guess it'll be in the office block opposite.
1802D. Rawn Let. 29 Oct. in J. Steele Papers (1924) I. 326 He receives in addition thereto, 300 Dollars for services termed extra, but wholly performed during the usual Office hour. 1841Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. (1849) ix. 100 Gus Hoskins and I, who hunted after office hours in couples. 1852Beck's Florist 260 Early rising has compensated for long office-hours. 1898J. H. Parker Hist. Gatling Gun Detachment 23, I don't want to hear anything about it... If you want to see me about this subject, come to me in office hours. 1903G. B. Shaw Man & Superman iii. 80 It is the custom..always to put off business until to-morrow. In fact, you have arrived out of office hours. 1922Marine Corps Gaz. June 212 One morning after Office Hours the C.O. was sitting at his desk grumbling to himself and holding his head in his hands. 1933Leatherneck Apr. 14 No ‘office hours’ were held during the month of January for any ‘A’ Company Marines. 1967A. Dubus Lieutenant 41 He committed an offense, he was brought in to office hours. 1972‘H. Howard’ Nice Day for Funeral iii. 41 We only meet outside office hours. I never impose on social relationships.
1907New Office Hymn Bk. ii. p. v, The Office Hymns are the Hymns in the Divine Office. 1931N. & Q. 19 Sept. 216/2 We are told that the best place for the Office Hymn both at Matins and Evensong is immediately before the Psalms. 1938Oxf. Compan. Mus. 629/1 Office hymn, a liturgical hymn appointed for the Office, or Service of the day... The Office Hymns of the Roman Breviary were not transferred to the English Prayer Book. 1959J. C. Denyer Office Managem. xi. 83 For office juniors, the appropriate official to approach is the Juvenile Employment Officer. 1970J. Cooper How to survive from Nine to Five 81 The office junior has used hair lacquer under her arms instead of deodorant and is walking round like a penguin. 1974R. Gadney Something Worth Fighting For ix. 64 A young man, neatly dressed, the obvious clerk or what is sometimes known as an office junior.
1955W. Gaddis Recognitions i. iii. 101 Who made the first one? Will somebody tell me that? said The Boss at an office party. 1967E. McGirr Here lies my Wife iii. 105 Kellerman had been in New Orleans the previous Christmas and so had missed the..office party. 1972G. Bromley In Absence of Body xii. 142 ‘You seem to have a lot of office parties.’ ‘Yes. People leaving or getting married, or entertaining clients.’
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §75/38 Typewriter, mill, office piano. 1945L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 29/2 Office piano, typewriter. 1970C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 87 Office piano,..a typewriter.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §542/19 Girl Friday, office wife, a female secretary. 1952G. W. Brace Spire (1953) xxvii. 268 I've been a pretty faithful office wife to him, and though he has never invited me to share a bed..he does hate to part with me. 1955H. Kurnitz Invasion of Privacy (1956) vii. 52, I know all about American business executives and their secretaries. Office wives, isn't that what you call them? 1972C. Weston Poor, Poor Ophelia (1973) viii. 41 The secretary smiled sweetly... ‘I'll do that, Mr. Farr. Get a good night's sleep now. 'Bye.’ My office wife, he thought sourly.
▪ II. ˈoffice, v.
[f. prec. n. Cf. officy v.]
†1. intr. To perform divine service: = officiate v. 1. Obs.
c1449Pecock Repr. ii. vi. 173 The same preest schulde office to God. 1502Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) iv. xxi. 237 The clerke so ordeyned sholde not offyce.
†2. trans. To perform in the way of duty or service. Obs. rare—1.
1601Shakes. All's Well iii. ii. 129 Although The ayre of Paradise did fan the house, And Angles offic'd all.
†3. To appoint to, or place in, office. Obs. rare.
1611Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 172 So stands this Squire Offic'd with me. 1763Churchill Duellist ii. 223 Before her Magna Charta lay, Which some great Lawyer..was offic'd to explain.
†4. To drive by virtue of one's office. Obs. nonce-use.
1607Shakes. Cor. v. ii. 68 You shall perceiue, that a Iacke gardant cannot office me from my Son Coriolanus.
5. slang. To ‘give the office’ to (a person); to give private notice of (something): see office n. 11. Hence ˈofficing vbl. n.
1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 283 This letter was to office Trist about laying bets on thick. 1819Moore Tom Cribb's Mem. 19 To office, with all due dispatch, through the air, To the Bulls of the Alley the fate of the Bear. 1841Swell's Night Guide (Gloss.) Office, giving warning. 1846Ibid. 58 She eased him of his fawney,..officed her cullies, they pasted his nibs, and scarpered rumbo. 1859G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 60 Officing, signalizing; a preconcerted signal by a confederate. 1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 63 Office, noun,..a signal;..a warning... Used also as a verb in the same sense. 1926J. Black You can't Win xiii. 182 Sanc closed the door..and ‘officed’ me to follow him out. 1949Partridge Dict. Underworld 479/1 Officing, a preconcerted signal. 1955Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 73 The tool offices that they will clip him as he enters the ramp... The tool offices for a left bridge and a left prat, and the frame closes.
6. intr. To have or work in an office (sense 8 a); to share an office with someone. U.S.
1892Nation (N.Y.) 21 Apr. 303/2 An attorney officing in the same building. 1917Dialect Notes IV. 347 Office with,..to share an office with. 1936Atlantic Monthly July (Contributors' Col., 4) A local newspaper has just carried two want ads containing this wording:—‘Chance for public accountant to office with lawyer.’ ‘Chance for high grade realtor to office with lawyer.’ 1973N.Y. Times 11 Aug. 10/1 Mr. Mardian spoke of a man who ‘officed in that same agency’.
Hence † ˈofficed ppl. a., (a) Having a particular function; (b) Of a church: see quots. 1598, 1611.
1598Florio, Officiata chiesa, a church well officed, id est, well serued, or duly serued. 1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 271 When light wing'd Toyes Of feather'd Cupid, seele..My speculatiue, and offic'd [Qos. active] Instrument. 1611Florio, Officiata Chiesa, a Church officed or serued. Officiato, officed, serued with due office. |