Etymology Explorer › Latin

Where does “officium” come from?

officium (Latin) comes from Latin opificium, from Latin opifex, from Latin Ops, from Latin oscen, from Latin opscen, from Latin ob-, from Latin obolus, from Ancient Greek ὀβολός — to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing.

officium (Latin): duty, service; office; obligation, an obligatory...

Definitions

  1. duty, service; office; obligation, an obligatory...

Ancestry of “officium”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinopificiumwork
2LatinopifexSomeone who does work ; worker, maker, framer,...
3LatinOpsearth goddess, fertility deity
4Latinoscenany bird by whose song cries augurs divined...
5Latinopscen—
6Latinob-towards; against
7Latinobolusobolus
8Ancient Greekὀβολόςobol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and...
9Ancient Greekὀβελόςa spit, rod; a horizontal line
10Ancient Greekβέλοςmissile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly...
11Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷélHos—
12Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷelH-to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing

Words derived from “officium”

  • office
  • officer
  • official
  • officially
  • unofficial
  • officiating
  • officious
  • officiate
  • unofficially
  • officialdom
  • officiously
  • officiousness
  • officeholder
  • officialism
  • interoffice
  • nonofficial
  • officeholding
  • officership
  • officiality
  • officialese
  • officiator
  • suboffice
  • officialization
  • intraoffice
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʷelH- →