An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either his own or that of his superior and/or employer, public or legally private).
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 (by virtue of another office, often in a specified capacity, such as presiding, advisory, secretary). 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 (12th century), from the Latin officialis ("attendant to a magistrate, public official"), the noun use of the original adjective officialis ("of or belonging to duty, service, or office") from officium ("office"). 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.
The informal term officialese, the jargon of "officialdom", was first recorded in 1884.
Read more about Official: Roman Antiquity, Ecclesiastical Judiciary, Other, Max Weber On Bureaucratic Officials, Adjective
Other articles related to "official":
... The VR official was one of three postage stamps introduced by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in May 1840 for the pre-payment of postage ... the general public, as were the Mulready envelopes and letter sheets, the VR official was for use on official mail ... In appearance the VR Official was the same as the issued Penny Black except that the stars in the top corners were removed and replaced by the letters V and R, hence its common name ...
... has sponsorship deals with include Philips – Main Sponsor Nike – Official Partner Mercedes-Benz – Official Partner Bavaria – Official Partner Rabobank – Official Partner BDO International ...
... fact that the Navy kept the full transcript of its official hearing and final report secret ... time recalls that at the height of the Palestine controversy, his (the associate's) official limousine was followed to and from his office by a blue sedan containing two men ... or leaving an Arab embassy in order to demonstrate that the official involved was in close contact with Arab representatives." Columnists Drew Pearson and ...
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Famous quotes containing the word official:
“Our medieval historians who prefer to rely as much as possible on official documents because the chronicles are unreliable, fall thereby into an occasionally dangerous error. The documents tell us little about the difference in tone which separates us from those times; they let us forget the fervent pathos of medieval life.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
“No sane local official who has hung up an empty stocking over the municipal fireplace, is going to shoot Santa Claus just before a hard Christmas.”
—Alfred E. Smith (1873–1944)
“In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)