Office (?), n. [F., fr. L. officium, for opificium; ops ability, wealth, help + facere to do or make. See Opulent, Fact.]
1. That which a person does, either voluntarily or by appointment, for, or with reference to, others; customary duty, or a duty that arises from the relations of man to man; as, “kind offices, pious offices”.
[1913 Webster]
I would I could do a good office between you. Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. A special duty, trust, charge, or position, conferred by authority and for a public purpose; a position of trust or authority; as, “an executive or judical office; a municipal office.”
[1913 Webster]
3. A charge or trust, of a sacred nature, conferred by God himself; as, “the office of a priest under the old dispensation, and that of the apostles in the new”.
[1913 Webster]
Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Rom. xi. 13.
[1913 Webster]
4. That which is performed, intended, or assigned to be done, by a particular thing, or that which anything is fitted to perform; a function; -- answering to duty in intelligent beings.
[1913 Webster]
They [the eyes] resign their office and their light. Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Hesperus, whose office is to bring
Twilight upon the earth. Milton.
[1913 Webster]
In this experiment the several intervals of the teeth of the comb do the office of so many prisms. Sir I. Newton.
[1913 Webster]
5. The place where any kind of business or service for others is transacted; a building, suite of rooms, or room in which public officers or workers in any organization transact business; as, “the register's office; a lawyer's office; the doctor's office; the Mayor's office.”
[1913 Webster +PJC]
6. The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose place of business is in an office; as, “I have notified the office”.
[1913 Webster]
7. pl. The apartments or outhouses in which the domestics discharge the duties attached to the service of a house, as kitchens, pantries, stables, etc. [Eng.]
[1913 Webster]
As for the offices, let them stand at distance. Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
8. (Eccl.) Any service other than that of ordination and the Mass; any prescribed religious service.
[1913 Webster]
This morning was read in the church, after the office was done, the declaration setting forth the late conspiracy against the king's person. Evelyn.
[1913 Webster]
Holy office. Same as Inquisition, n., 3. -- Houses of office. Same as def. 7 above. Chaucer. -- Little office (R. C. Ch.), an office recited in honor of the Virgin Mary. -- Office bearer, an officer; one who has a specific office or duty to perform. -- Office copy (Law), an authenticated or certified copy of a record, from the proper office. See Certified copies, under Copy. Abbott. -- Office-found (Law), the finding of an inquest of office. See under Inquest. -- Office holder. See Officeholder in the Vocabulary -- Office hours. the hours of the day during which business is transacted at an office5. -- Office seeker. a person who is attempting to get elected to an elected office, or to get an appointment to an appointive public office.
[1913 Webster +PJC]