office: Meaning and Definition of

of•fice

Pronunciation: (ô'fis, of'is), [key]
— n.
  1. a room, set of rooms, or building where the business of a commercial or industrial organization or of a professional person is conducted: the main office of an insurance company; a doctor's office.
  2. a room assigned to a specific person or a group of persons in a commercial or industrial organization: Her office is next to mine.
  3. a business or professional organization: He went to work in an architect's office.
  4. the staff or designated part of a staff at a commercial or industrial organization: The whole office was at his wedding.
  5. a position of duty, trust, or authority, esp. in the government, a corporation, a society, or the like: She was elected twice to the office of president.
  6. employment or position as an official: to seek office.
  7. the duty, function, or part of a particular person or agency: to act in the office of adviser.
  8. (cap.) an operating agency or division of certain departments of the U.S. Government: Office of Community Services.
  9. (cap.)a major administrative unit or department of the national government: the Foreign Office.
  10. hint, signal, or warning; high sign.
  11. Often,something, whether good or bad, done or said for or to another: He obtained a position through the offices of a friend.
    1. the prescribed order or form for a service of the church or for devotional use.
    2. the services so prescribed.
    3. Also calleddivine office.the prayers, readings from Scripture, and psalms that must be recited every day by all who are in major orders.
    4. a ceremony or rite, esp. for the dead.
  12. a service or task to be performed; assignment; chore: little domestic offices.
    1. the parts of a house, as the kitchen, pantry, or laundry, devoted mainly to household work.
    2. the stables, barns, cowhouses, etc., of a farm.
  13. privy.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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