Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “official” come from?

Official comes from Latin officialis, formed from Latin ops meaning "work" or "effort" with the suffix -alis denoting relation or pertinence, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European -yós.

official (English): Of or pertaining to an office or public trust;...

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to an office or public trust;...

Ancestry of “official”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishofficialAn underling of a member of the clergy, often...
2Old Frenchofficialcourt official; chamber pot; official; certified...
3Latinofficiālis—
4Latinofficiumduty, service; office; obligation, an obligatory...
5Latinopificiumwork
6LatinopifexSomeone who does work ; worker, maker, framer,...
7LatinOpsearth goddess, fertility deity
8Latinoscenany bird by whose song cries augurs divined...
9Latinopscen—
10Latinob-towards; against
11Latinobolusobolus
12Ancient Greekὀβολόςobol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and...
13Ancient Greekὀβελόςa spit, rod; a horizontal line
14Ancient Greekβέλοςmissile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly...
15Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷélHos—
16Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷelH-to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing

Words derived from “official”

  • officially
  • unofficial
  • unofficially
  • officialdom
  • officialism
  • nonofficial
  • officiality
  • officialese
  • officialization
  • inofficial
  • officialize
  • officialness
  • extraofficial
  • antiofficial
  • officialty
  • inofficially
  • unofficiality
  • nonofficially
  • co-official
  • semi-official
  • unofficialness
  • officiellement
  • inofficiel
  • officiel
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʷelH- →