Chapter Offal to Officiant of O by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

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.

They [the eyes] resign their office and their light.

Shak.

Hesperus, whose office is to bring
Twilight upon the earth.

Milton.

In this experiment the several intervals of the teeth of the comb do the office of so many prisms.

Sir I. Newton.

5. 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.

6. The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose place of business is in an office; as, I have notified the office.

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.]

As for the offices, let them stand at distance.

Bacon.

8. (Eccl.) Any service other than that of ordination and the Mass; any prescribed religious service.

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.

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
(Of`fice) v. t. To perform, as the duties of an office; to discharge. [Obs.] Shak.

Officeholder
(Of"fice*hold"er) n. An officer, particularly one in the civil service; a placeman.

Officer
(Of"fi*cer) n. [F. officier. See Office, and cf. Official, n.]

1. One who holds an office; a person lawfully invested with an office, whether civil, military, or ecclesiastical; as, a church officer; a police officer; a staff officer. "I am an officer of state." Shak.

2. (U. S. Mil.) Specifically, a commissioned officer, in distinction from a warrant officer.

Field officer, General officer, etc. See under Field, General. etc. — Officer of the day (Mil.), the officer who, on a given day, has charge for that day of the quard, prisoners, and police of the post or camp. — Officer of the deck, or Officer of the watch (Naut.), the officer temporarily in charge on the deck of a vessel, esp. a war vessel.

Officer
(Of"fi*cer), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Officered ; p. pr. & vb. n. Officering.]

1. To furnish with officers; to appoint officers over. Marshall.

2. To command as an officer; as, veterans from old regiments officered the recruits.

Official
(Of*fi"cial) a. [L. officialis: cf. F. officiel. See Office, and cf. Official, n.]