Where does “Office” come from?
Office comes from Middle English office, from Old French office, from Latin officium, derived from Latin ops meaning duty or service with the suffix -ium.
Office (English): A ceremonial duty or service, "particularly"; A...
Definitions
- A ceremonial duty or service, "particularly"; A...
Ancestry of “Office”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | office | The state of being employed or having a work or... |
| 2 | Old French | office | office; service |
| 3 | Latin | officium | duty, service; office; obligation, an obligatory... |
| 4 | Latin | opificium | work |
| 5 | Latin | opifex | Someone who does work (especially creative or constructive); worker, maker, framer, fabricator, workman, mechanic, artificer, craftsman, inventor, artist, artisan |
| 6 | Latin | Ops | earth goddess, fertility deity |
| 7 | Latin | oscen | any bird by whose song cries augurs divined... |
| 8 | Latin | opscen | — |
| 9 | Latin | ob- | towards; against |
| 10 | Latin | obolus | obolus (Greek coin) |
| 11 | Ancient Greek | ὀβολός | obol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and... |
| 12 | Ancient Greek | ὀβελός | a spit, rod; a horizontal line |
| 13 | Ancient Greek | βέλος | missile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly... |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷélHos | — |