Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “officen” come from?

officen (Middle English) comes from Old French officier, from Latin officiārius, from French officier, from German Offizier, from Old French officer, from Medieval Latin officiarius, from Latin officium, from Latin opificium — to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing.

officen (Middle English): To execute a Christian worship service

Definitions

  1. To execute a Christian worship service

Ancestry of “officen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchofficierofficer
2Latinofficiārius—
3Frenchofficierto officiate; officer
4GermanOffizierofficer, commissioned officer; any chess piece...
5Old Frenchofficerofficer
6Medieval Latinofficiariusofficer
7Latinofficiumduty, service; office; obligation, an obligatory...
8Latinopificiumwork
9LatinopifexSomeone who does work ; worker, maker, framer,...
10LatinOpsearth goddess, fertility deity
11Latinoscenany bird by whose song cries augurs divined...
12Latinopscen—
13Latinob-towards; against
14Latinobolusobolus
15Ancient Greekὀβολόςobol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and...
16Ancient Greekὀβελόςa spit, rod; a horizontal line
17Ancient Greekβέλοςmissile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly...
18Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷélHos—
19Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷelH-to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʷelH- →