officer

English

A military officer

Etymology

From Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Old French officer, Late Latin officiarius (“official”), from Latin officium (“office”) + -ārius (“-er”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒfɪsə/
  • (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɒfəsə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔfɪsɚ/
  • (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɔfəsɚ/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɑfɪsɚ/
• (dialectal, informal) IPA^(key): /ˈɒfsə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: of‧fi‧cer

Noun

officer (plural officers)

2. One who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police or government organizations.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 19, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.

4. One who holds a public office.
6. An agent or servant imparted with the ability, to some degree, to act on initiative.
8. (colloquial, military) A commissioned officer.

Derived terms

• non-commissioned officer
• officerly

Related terms

• office
• official
• officiate

Descendants

• → Punjabi: ਅਫ਼ਸਰ (afsar)
• → Swahili: afisa

Translations

one who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization

• Afrikaans: offisier
• Albanian: oficer (sq) m
• Arabic: مَأْمُور‎ (ar) m (maʾmūr)
• Armenian: սպա (hy) (spa)
• Bulgarian: офице́р m (oficér)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 官員 (zh), 官员 (zh) (guānyuán), 官吏 (zh) (guānlì)

• Czech: funkcionář (cs)
• Esperanto: oficiro
• Finnish: upseeri (fi)
• French: fonctionnaire (fr) m, officier (fr)
• German: Funktionär (de) m, Funktionärin (de) f
• Greek: αξιωματικός (el) m (axiomatikós)
• Hebrew: פָּקִיד‎ (he) m (pakíd)
• Hungarian: tiszt (hu), katonatiszt (hu), rendőr (hu)
• Italian: funzionario (it) m
• Japanese: 役員 (ja) (やくいん, yakuin)

• Korean: 역원 (ko) (yeogwon)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ئه‌فسه‌ر‎ (ku) (efser)

• Latin: praefectus m
• Lithuanian: pareigūnas m
• Malay: pegawai
• Manx: fer oik m
• Maori: āpiha
• Navajo: siláo binantʼaʼí
• Ojibwe: zhimaaganishii-ogimaa (military)
• Persian: افسر‎ (fa) (afsar), سرکار‎ (fa) (sarkâr)
• Portuguese: oficial (pt) m or f, comandante (pt) m or f
• Romanian: ofițer (ro) m, funcționar (ro) m
• Russian: слу́жащий (ru) m (slúžaščij), чино́вник (ru) m (činóvnik)
• Swahili: afisa (sw), ofisa (sw)
• Swedish: officer (sv) c (military):, direktör (sv) c (business):
• Thai: เจ้าหน้าที่ (th) (jâao-nâa-tîi)
• Welsh: swyddog (cy) m
• Zazaki: êfser m, êfser f, êfsere f

one who holds a public office

• Bulgarian: чино́вник (bg) m (činóvnik)
• Finnish: virkamies (fi)
• French: fonctionnaire (fr)
• German: Beamter (de) m, Beamtin (de) f
• Hungarian: tisztviselő (hu), tisztségviselő (hu)
• Japanese: 役人 (ja) (やくにん, yakunin)
• Polish: urzędnik (pl) m, urzędniczka (pl) f

• Portuguese: funcionário público (pt) m
• Romanian: funcționar public m
• Russian: чино́вник (ru) m (činóvnik)
• Scottish Gaelic: maor m
• Swedish: tjänsteman (sv) c, ämbetsman (sv) c

agent or servant endowed with the ability to act on initiative

• Finnish: asiamies (fi)

• Swahili: afisa (sw)

contraction of the term "commissioned officer"

• Albanian: oficer (sq) m
• Arabic: ضَابِط‎ m (ḍābiṭ)
• Armenian: սպա (hy) (spa)
• Azerbaijani: zabit (az)
• Belarusian: афіцэ́р m (aficér)
• Bulgarian: офице́р m (oficér)
• Burmese: စစ်ဗိုလ် (cacbuil)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 軍官 (zh), 军官 (zh) (jūnguān)

• Czech: důstojník (cs) m
• Danish: officer c
• Dutch: officier (nl) m
• Estonian: ohvitser
• Finnish: upseeri (fi)
• French: officier (fr) m, officière (fr) f
• Georgian: ოფიცერი (opiceri)
• German: Offizier (de) m, Offizierin f
• Hebrew: קָצִין‎ (he) m (katsín)
• Hindi: ऑफ़िसर m (ŏfisar), अफसर (hi) m (aphsar)
• Hungarian: tiszt (hu)
• Inari Sami: upseer
• Indonesian: perwira (id)
• Italian: ufficiale (it) m or f
• Japanese: 士官 (ja) (しかん, shikan), 将校 (ja) (しょうこう, shōkō)
• Kazakh: офицер (kk) (ofïcer)
• Korean: 장교 (ko) (janggyo), 군관 (ko) (gun-gwan)
• Kyrgyz: офицер (ky) (ofitser)

• Latvian: virsnieks m
• Lithuanian: karininkas m
• Macedonian: офицер m (oficer)
• Malay: pegawai, perwira (Indonesia)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: offiser m

  Nynorsk: offiser m

• Persian: افسر‎ (fa) (afsar)
• Polish: oficer (pl) m
• Portuguese: oficial (pt) m or f
• Romanian: ofițer (ro) m
• Russian: офице́р (ru) m (oficér) (military or police)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: официр m

  Roman: oficir (sh) m

• Slovak: dôstojník m
• Slovene: oficir m, častnik m
• Spanish: oficial (es) m or f
• Swedish: officer (sv) c
• Tajik: афсар (afsar)
• Thai: นายทหาร
• Turkish: subay (tr)
• Turkmen: ofiser
• Ukrainian: офіце́р m (oficér)
• Urdu: افسر‎ m (afsar)
• Uzbek: ofitser (uz)
• Vietnamese: sĩ quan (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: (1) ^{(please verify)} oficer (sq), (2) ^{(please verify)} nënpunës
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} officier (nl) m
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} קצין‎ (he) m (katzin)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} agente (it) m, ^{(please verify)} ufficiale (it)

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 장교 (ko) (janggyo)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} часник m, ^{(please verify)} časnik (sh) m
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} oficial (es) m

Verb

officer (third-person singular simple present officers, present participle officering, simple past and past participle officered)

1. (transitive) To supply with officers.
2. (transitive) To command like an officer.

Synonyms

• direct
• conduct
• manage

Related terms

• CO
• NCO

Translations

to supply with officers

• Vietnamese: chỉ huy (vi)

to command like an officer

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• officere, officeer, offyseer, offycer, offycere, offiser, officeere, officiare, offecer, oficer, officier

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Latin officiārius; equivalent to office +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔfiːˈsɛːr/, /ɔfiˈsɛːr/, /ɔˈfiːsər/, /ˈɔfisər/

Noun

officer (plural officers)

1. A hireling or subordinate; one employed to serve, especially at an estate.
2. An official or officeholder; the holder of a prominent office or position.
3. A municipal, local or societal official or officeholder.
4. A religious or ecclesiastical official or officeholder.
5. (religion) A deputy or subordinate of the forces of good or evil.
6. (rare) One who supervises or organises jousting.
7. (rare) A member or leader of a military force.

Descendants

• English: officer
• Scots: offisher

References

• “offī̆cē̆r, n.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-20.

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Old French

Alternative forms

• officier

Noun

officer m (oblique plural officers, nominative singular officers, nominative plural officer)

1. officer

References

• officer on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

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Swedish

Etymology

From French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

officer ?

1. officer, a military person of fänrik grade or higher
2. (archaic) ämbetsman, tjänsteman; one who holds a public office