Where does “officer” come from?
officer (Middle English) comes from Anglo-Norman officer, 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.
officer (Middle English): A hireling or subordinate; one employed to serve,...
Definitions
- A hireling or subordinate; one employed to serve,...
Ancestry of “officer”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anglo-Norman | officer | officer |
| 2 | Latin | officiārius | officer |
| 3 | French | officier | to officiate; officer |
| 4 | German | Offizier | officer, commissioned officer; any chess piece... |
| 5 | Old French | officer | officer |
| 6 | Medieval Latin | officiarius | officer |
| 7 | Latin | officium | duty, service; office; obligation, an obligatory... |
| 8 | Latin | opificium | work |
| 9 | Latin | opifex | Someone who does work (especially creative or constructive); worker, maker, framer, fabricator, workman, mechanic, artificer, craftsman, inventor, artist, artisan |
| 10 | Latin | Ops | earth goddess, fertility deity |
| 11 | Latin | oscen | any bird by whose song cries augurs divined... |
| 12 | Latin | opscen | — |
| 13 | Latin | ob- | towards; against |
| 14 | Latin | obolus | obolus (Greek coin) |
| 15 | Ancient Greek | ὀβολός | obol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and... |
| 16 | Ancient Greek | ὀβελός | a spit, rod; a horizontal line |
| 17 | Ancient Greek | βέλος | missile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly... |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷélHos | — |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷelH- | to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing |