Etymology Explorer › English

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

  1. A ceremonial duty or service, "particularly"; A...

Ancestry of “office”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishofficeThe state of being employed or having a work or...
2Old Frenchofficeoffice; service
3Latinofficiumduty, service; office; obligation, an obligatory...
4Latinopificiumwork
5LatinopifexSomeone who does work ; worker, maker, framer,...
6LatinOpsearth goddess, fertility deity
7Latinoscenany bird by whose song cries augurs divined...
8Latinopscen—
9Latinob-towards; against
10Latinobolusobolus
11Ancient Greekὀβολόςobol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and...
12Ancient Greekὀβελόςa spit, rod; a horizontal line
13Ancient Greekβέλοςmissile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly...
14Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷélHos—

Words derived from “office”

  • officeholder
  • interoffice
  • officeholding
  • suboffice
  • intraoffice
  • officeseeker
  • officeseeking
  • officelike
  • nonoffice
  • officeless
  • officewide
  • officeward
  • officewear
  • officescape
  • office boy
  • Officegate
  • house of office
  • gingerbread office
  • usual offices
  • shopoffice
  • officegoer
  • office-goer
  • officeship
  • офис
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʷélHos →