officer
/ˈɔ.fɪ.sɚ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.03 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
One who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police or government organizations.
noun
A respectful term of address for an officer, especially a police officer.
noun
One who holds a public office.
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "Huerta was arrested while law enforcement officers were executing a federal search warrant at a Los Angeles business suspected of hiring illegal immigrants and falsifying employment papers, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in a federal court filing. […] A law enforcement officer approached Huerta and told him to leave, then put his hands on Huerta to move him out of the way of a vehicle, the agent wrote."
- "Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets."
- "Early in the Talmudic period the service was divided between two officers. One was invited to recite the Shema including the benedictions connected with it... After he was through, another man was invited to stand up before the pulpit facing the direction of Jerusalem to recite the prayer proper, i.e., the Amida."
- "Many of our journals are officered by Irish gentlemen, and their gallant brigade does the penning among us, as their ancestors used to transact the fighting in Europe; and engage under many a flag, to be good friends when the battle is over."
- "The regular battalions of the regiment, though officered mainly by Anglo-Welshmen of county families, did not normally contain more than about one Welshman in fifty in the ranks."
- "[A]t least a quarter of those who fought and died in the Great War were prosperous with spacious homes, and to this class belonged nearly all who had ordered and officered the carnage."
Etymology
From Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Old French officer, Late Latin officiarius (“official”), from Latin officium (“office”) + -ārius (“-er”). By surface analysis, office + -er.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₃ep-, officer, officiarius, officium
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɔ.fɪ.sɚ/
- British English: /ˈɒf.ɪ.sə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
multiofficered
nonofficer
officerdom
officeress
officerfully
officerhood
officerial
officerism
officerless
officerlike
officerly
officership