Office

(ŏf'ĭs), n. [Fr. office, Pr. offici, Pg. officio, Sp. oficio, It. officio, ufficio, offizio, uffizio, Lat. officium, from prefix ob and facere, to make or do.] 1. That which is laid upon, or taken up by, one person to perform for another; work to be performed for, or with reference to, others; peculiar service; duty; especially, customary duty; or, a duty such as arises from the relations of man to man; as, kind offices; pious offices; offices of pity. Hesperus, whose office is to bring Twilight upon the earth. Milton. 2. A special duty, trust, or charge, conferred by authority and for a public purpose; an employment undertaken by the commission and authority of the government, as civil, judicial, executive, legislative, diplomatic, and other offices; also, a duty, charge, or trust, of a sacred nature, conferred by God himself; as, the office of priest in the Old Testament, and that of the apostles in the New Testament. Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Rom. xi. 13. 3. That which is performed, intended, or assigned to be done, by a particular thing, or that which any thing is fitted to perform;—answering to duty in intelligent beings. In this experiment the several intervals of the teeth of the comb do the office of so many prisms. Newton.

4. The place where a particular kind of business, or service, for others is transacted; a house or apartment in which public officers and others transact business; as, the register’s office; a lawyer’s office.
5. Hence, the company or corporation whose place of business is their office; as, I have notified the office; I have abandoned my vessel to the office; insured in such an office.
6. (pl.) (Domestic Arch.) The apartments in which the domestics discharge the several duties attached to the service of a house, as kitchens, pantries, and the like; stables, barns, &c., of a farm.
7. (Eccl.) The service appointed for a particular occasion; as, the office of the mass; the office for the burial of the dead; a prescribed form or act of devotion.

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. 8. (Canon Law.) A benefice which has no jurisdiction annexed to it. House of office, a privy.—Office found (Law), the finding of certain facts on an inquest or inquisition of office. See INQUEST.