officer

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One who holds an office of authority or trust in an organization, such as a corporation or government.
2. n. One who holds a commission in the armed forces.
3. n. A person licensed in the merchant marine as master, mate, chief engineer, or assistant engineer.
4. n. A police officer.
5. v. To furnish with officers.
6. v. To command or manage as an officer.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. One who holds an office, or to whom has been intrusted a share in the management or direction of some business or undertaking, such as a society, corporation, company, etc., or who fills some position involving responsibility, to which he has been formally appointed.
2. n. Specifically, a person holding a public office, under a national, state, or municipal government, and authorized thereby to exercise some specific function: as, an officer of the Treasury Department; a custom-house or excise officer; law officers; a court officer. In constitutional provisions and statutes regulating the appointment, tenure, emoluments, etc., of public officers, the designations “officers,” “civil officers,” “public officers.” “executive officers,” “judicial officers,” “legislative officers,” “administrative officers,” and the like commonly have in American law peculiar meanings dependent on the connection in which the phrases are used, and on other provisions of law necessary to be considered with them.
3. n. Used absolutely: One who holds a commission in the army or navy. In the army general officers are those whose command extends to a body of forces composed of several regiments, as generals, lieutenant-generals, major-generals, and brigadiers. Staff-officers belong to the general stair, and include the quartermaster-general, adjutant-general, aides-de-camp, etc. Commissioned officers, in the British army, include colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and majors (field-officers), and captains, lieutenants, and sub-lieutenants (company officers), and are appointed by a commission from the crown or from a lord lieutenant; in the United States army these hold their commissions from the President, the lowest grade being that of second lieutenant. Brevet officers are those who hold a nominal rank above that for which they receive pay. Non-commissioned officers are usually appointed by the commanding officers of the regiments, and are intermediate between commissioned officers and private soldiers, as sergeant-majors, quartermaster-sergeants, sergeants, corporals, and drum- and fife-majors. Officers in the navy are distinguished as commissioned officers, holding their commissions in the British navy from the lords of the Admiralty and in the United States navy from the President; warrant officers, holding warrants in the British navy from the Admiralty, and in the United States navy from the Secretary of the Navy, as boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and sailmakers; and petty officers, appointed by the captain or officer commanding the ship. Officers in the navy are also classed as line or combatant officers, and staff or non-combatant officers, the latter comprising paymasters, and medical, commissariat, and other civil officers. See line, 14.
4. n. In the law of corporations, one who holds an office, such as a director or cashier, as distinguished from one who is an employee, as a bookkeeper. It is disputed whether a bank-teller is properly included in the designation of officers or not. The question would often be determined by a reference to the charter or by-laws of the particular bank. More specifically, in popular use, an officer is an executive officer, such as the president, secretary, or treasurer, as distinguished from a member of the board of directors or an employee.
5. n. A policeman, constable, or beadle.
6. n. In some honorary orders, a member of higher rank than the lowest; in the Legion of Honor, the degree next higher than that of chevalier or knight.
7. To minister; be of service.
8. To furnish with officers; appoint officers over.
9. To serve as officers for.

Wiktionary

1. n. One who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police or government organizations.
2. n. One who holds a public office.
3. n. An agent or servant imparted with the ability, to some degree, to act on initiative.
4. n. colloquial, military A simple contraction of the term "commissioned officer."
5. v. transitive To supply with officers.
6. v. transitive To command like an officer.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One who holds an office; a person lawfully invested with an office, whether civil, military, or ecclesiastical
2. n. (U. S. Mil.) Specifically, a commissioned officer, in distinction from a warrant officer or an enlisted man.
3. v. To furnish with officers; to appoint officers over.
4. v. To command as an officer.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a person authorized to serve in a position of authority on a vessel
2. v. direct or command as an officer
3. n. any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
4. n. a member of a police force
5. n. someone who is appointed or elected to an office and who holds a position of trust