What does official mean?

Definitions for official
əˈfɪʃ əlof·fi·cial

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word official.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. official, functionarynoun

    a worker who holds or is invested with an office

  2. officialadjective

    someone who administers the rules of a game or sport

    "the golfer asked for an official who could give him a ruling"

  3. officialadjective

    having official authority or sanction

    "official permission"; "an official representative"

  4. officialadjective

    of or relating to an office

    "official privileges"

  5. officialadjective

    verified officially

    "the election returns are now official"

  6. official, prescribedadjective

    conforming to set usage, procedure, or discipline

    "in prescribed order"

  7. officialadjective

    (of a church) given official status as a national or state institution

Wiktionary

  1. officialnoun

    An office holder invested with powers and authorities.

    David Barnes was the official charged with the running of the sports club.

  2. officialnoun

    A person responsible for applying the rules of a game or sport in a competition.

    In most football games there are three officials: the referee and two linesmen.

  3. officialadjective

    Of or pertaining to an office or public trust.

    official duties

  4. officialadjective

    Derived from the proper office or officer, or from the proper authority; made or communicated by virtue of authority

    an official statement or report

  5. officialadjective

    Approved by authority; authorized.

  6. officialadjective

    sanctioned by the pharmacopoeia; appointed to be used in medicine; officinal

    an official drug or preparation

  7. officialadjective

    Discharging an office or function.

  8. officialadjective

    Relating to an office; especially, to a subordinate executive officer or attendant.

  9. officialadjective

    Relating to an ecclesiastical judge appointed by a bishop, chapter, archdeacon, etc., with charge of the spiritual jurisdiction.

  10. Etymology: From official, from officium.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Officialadjective

    Etymology: official, Fr. from office.

    In this animal are the guts, the stomach, and other parts official unto nutrition, which, were its aliment the empty reception of air, their provisions had been superfluous. Brown.

    The tribunes
    Endue you with the people’s voice. Remains
    That in th’ official marks invested, you
    Anon do meet the senate. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

  2. Officialnoun

    Official is that person to whom the cognizance of causes is committed by such as have ecclesiastical jurisdiction. John Ayliffe

    A poor man found a priest over familiar with his wife, and because he spake it abroad and could not prove it, the priest sued him before the bishop’s official for defamation. William Camden.

ChatGPT

  1. official

    An official is a person who holds a position of authority or responsibility in a government, organization, institution, or corporation. This could be a public office, a role within a company, or a position within a group or society. An official's duties and powers are usually defined by the rules or laws of their organization. Additionally, "official" can also refer to something that is formally recognized, approved, or authorized by a person in authority or by a governing body.

Wikidata

  1. Official

    An official is someone who holds an office in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority. A government official or functionary is an official who is involved in public administration or government, through either election, appointment, selection, or employment. A bureaucrat is a member of the bureaucracy. An elected official is a person who is an official by virtue of an election. Officials may also be appointed ex officio. Some official positions may be inherited. A person who currently holds an office is referred to as an incumbent. The word official as a noun has been recorded since the Middle English period, first seen in 1314. It comes from the Old French official, from the Latin officialis, the noun use of the original adjective officialis from officium. The meaning "person in charge of some public work or duty" was first recorded in 1555. The adjective is first attested in English in 1533, via the Old French oficial.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. official

    All orders, reports, applications, memorials, etc., which pass through the regular channels of communication, are called official.

Editors Contribution

  1. official

    A document with power or authority defined in a form of agreement or legislation.

    The treaty is official and registered in legislation.


    Submitted by MaryC on June 23, 2020  


  2. official

    A person with power or authority defined in legislation.

    The government official is so respectful and understands the importance of the peoples perception and truth.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 16, 2020  

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'official' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1303

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'official' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3525

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'official' in Nouns Frequency: #573

  4. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'official' in Adjectives Frequency: #160

How to pronounce official?

How to say official in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of official in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of official in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of official in a Sentence

  1. Ted Cruz:

    He is the one who is abusing official authority to further the criminal activity of his family members. And that's why this is an issue of public corruption.

  2. Diman Bayeez:

    I was very poor. I have schizophrenia and was just diagnosed with blood cancer, and my only daughter wasn't treating me well. I was borrowing money from people for the treatment. That was in June 2014, and she described her situation to a cab driver named Mahmoud in her home city of Kirkuk. He was ISIS and said if I joined, they would treat me well and pay me, she says. I said I would join on one condition : That they make me a suicide bomber and put me out of my misery. Mahmoud was killed fighting in Hawija, and two ISIS members found her number in his phone. She – along with her now ex-husband – were recruited. K.S. says she did not receive any formal training as a combatant, and did not pledge allegiance to ISIS, but admits that she allowed two militants to stay at her home – she now suspects that one was a spy for the Kurdish security forces. But when she was scheduled to put on the suicide vest, she got cold feet. She fled with the idea of seeking asylum in Europe, but the Kurds picked her up before she could leave. I told them I did all these bad things I didn't do because I wanted to be executed. I still wanted to die, K.S. says, saying that she attempted to kill herself in jail, too, with a kitchen knife. Now Iam thankful to God. I know I have committed no crime. Kurdish authorities beg to differ. According to the deputy manager of the correctional center, Zhino Azad, K.S. was deeply entrenched in ISIS, coordinating for their agents and being a guard at their female prisons – possibly filled with captured Yazidi sex slaves. Even her daughter, a lawyer, is terrified of her, Zhino Azad tells FoxNews.com. She is … a little psychotic. That's the type of people ISIS takes advantage of. K.S. does n’t mind prison at all. It is like heaven in this jail, she says. Here, she is safe from ISIS, is fed and receives medical treatment. I get to read the Koran all day and sleep, K.S. says with a bright smile. And I interpret dreams for the other women. A.H., a 35-year-old mother with a small tribal tattoo on the tip of her nose, also spoke to FoxNews.com. She was issued a life sentence, which was reduced to 20 years, then 15, because she has young children -- six of them who are between 5 and 16 years old. They are being looked after by the second of her husband's four wives. He is in jail now too, she says. At first, A.H. maintains that she was working at a civilian hospital that was controlled by ISIS, but that she never treated wounded fighters, but it does n’t take long for her to let her guard down, especially after the prison official with us begins wandering in and out of the room. I went to ISIS Diman Bayeez and said I would do anything, clean hospitals, if they gave me a salary – $ 260 a month, she says. So I was setting up IVs and injections for the fighters. While she admits to having sworn allegiance to the Caliphate, A.H. also claims she was a spy for Iraqi intelligence, and, fearful that ISIS members would find out, she fled to Kurdistan in early 2016. We have problems, especially with the new prisoners, radicalizing others, so we try to keep the terrorists separate. - Diman Bayeez, manager of the Women and Childrens Prison of Erbil She says all evidence of her spying was taken from her at an Iraqi Army checkpoint. Of course I regret [ helping ISIS ]. But my family was hungry. My husband was old, she pleads. I feel betrayed. They took my phone, my proof I was helping them. They all say they aren't guilty.

  3. Terry Headlee:

    I just couldn't believe that an elected official would say something so stupid.

  4. John Ortolano:

    Rep. Mosley’s recklessness, his demeanor and his utter disregard for the safety of the public represent the exact opposite of what the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police looks for in an elected official, potentially lethal speeding isn’t a joke. We will not stand with those who think it’s acceptable or funny to risk the lives of others while behind the wheel of a lethal weapon.

  5. George Gascón:

    He's running for reelection. He's got very strong opponents, i think it's important for the public to understand that his fight is not just with me. He's got a fight with every elected official other than Donald Trump.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

official#1#770#10000

Translations for official

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"official." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/official>.

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