Someone who holds an office
Ambtenaar
("government official"), by Louis Dusee,
Utrecht
, 1961
An
official
is someone who holds an office (function or
mandate
, regardless of whether it carries an actual
working space
with it) in an
organization
or government and participates in the exercise of
authority
(either their own or that of their superior or employer, public or legally private). 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
. Something "official" refers to something endowed with governmental or other authoritative recognition or mandate, as in
official language
,
official gazette
, or
official scorer
.
Etymology
[
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]
The word
official
as a
noun
has been recorded since the
Middle English
period, first seen in 1314.
[1]
It comes from the
Old French
official
(12th century), from the
Latin
officialis
("attendant to a magistrate, government 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.
Roman antiquity
[
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]
An
officialis
(
plural
officiales
) was the official term (somewhat comparable to a modern civil servant) for any member of the
officium
(staff) of a high dignitary such as a governor.
Ecclesiastical judiciary
[
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]
In
canon law
, the word or its Latin original
officialis
is used absolutely as the legal title of a diocesan bishop's
judicial vicar
who shares the bishop's
ordinary
judicial power over the
diocese
and presides over the diocesan
ecclesiastical court
.
The
1983
Code of Canon Law
gives precedence to the title judicial vicar, rather than that of
officialis
(canon 1420). The
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches
uses only the title judicial vicar (canon 191).
In German, the related noun
Offizialat
was also used for an official bureau in a diocese that did much of its administration, comprising the
vicariate-general
, an adjoined secretariat, a registry office and a chancery.
In Catholicism, the vicar-general was originally called the "official" (
officialis
).
[2]
The title of
official principal
, together with that of vicar-general, has in Anglicanism been merged in that of
diocesan chancellor
of a diocese.
[3]
Sports
[
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]
In
sports
, the term official is used to describe a person enforcing playing
rules
in the capacity of an
assistant referee
,
referee
and
umpire
; also specified by the discipline, e.g.
American football official
,
ice hockey official
. An official competition is created or recognized as valid by the competent body, is agreed to or arranged by people in positions of authority.
[4]
It is synonymous, among others, with approved, certified, recognized, endorsed, and legitimate.
[5]
Other
[
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]
The term
officer
is close to being a synonym (but has more military
connotations
). A
functionary
is someone who carries out a particular role within an organization; this again is quite a close synonym for official, as a
noun
, but with connotations closer to
bureaucrat
. Any such person acts in their
official capacity
, in carrying out the duties of their office; they are also said to
officiate
, for example, in a
ceremony
. A
public official
is an official of central or local
government
.
Max Weber on bureaucratic officials
[
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]
Max Weber
gave as definition of a bureaucratic official:
- they are personally free and appointed to their position on the basis of conduct
- he exercises the authority delegated to them in accordance with impersonal rules, and their loyalty is enlisted on behalf of the faithful execution of their official duties
- their appointment and job placement are dependent upon their technical qualifications
- their administrative work is a full-time occupation
- their work is rewarded by a regular salary and prospects of advancement in a lifetime career.
An official must exercise their judgment and their skills, but their duty is to place these at the service of a higher authority; ultimately they are responsible only for the impartial execution of assigned tasks and must sacrifice their personal judgment if it runs counter to their official duties.
Adjective
[
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]
As an
adjective
, "official" often, but not always, means pertaining to the government, as state employee or having state recognition, or analogous to governance or to a formal (especially legally regulated) proceeding as opposed to informal business. In summary, that has authenticity emanates from an authority. Some examples:
- An
official holiday
is a
public holiday
, having national (or regional) recognition.
- An
official language
is a language recognised by a government, for its own use in administration, or for delivering services to its citizens (for example, on
signposts
).
- An
official
spokesperson
is an individual empowered to speak for the government, or some part of it such as a
ministry
, on a range of issues and on the record for the
media
.
- An
official statement
is an issued by an organisation as an expression of its corporate position or opinion;
[
citation needed
]
an
official apology
is an apology similarly issued by an organisation (as opposed to an apology by an individual).
[
citation needed
]
- Official
policy
is policy publicly acknowledged and defended by an organisation.
[
citation needed
]
In these cases
unofficial
is an antonym, and variously may mean informal, unrecognised, personal or unacknowledged.
- An
official strike
is a
strike
organised and recognised by a
labour union
, as opposed to an
unofficial strike
at grassroots level.
- An
official school
is a
school
administered by the government or by a local authority, as opposite to a
private school
or
religious school
.
[
citation needed
]
- An
official history
, for example of an institution or business, or particularly of a
war
or
military unit
, is a history written as a commission, with the assumption of co-operation with access to records and archives; but without necessarily full
editorial independence
.
[
citation needed
]
- An
official biography
is usually on the same lines, written with access to private papers and the support of the family of the subject.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
Further reading
[
edit
]
Look up
official
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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