Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who holds an office of authority or trust in an organization, such as a corporation or government.
  • noun One who holds a commission in the armed forces.
  • noun A person licensed in the merchant marine as master, mate, chief engineer, or assistant engineer.
  • noun A police officer.
  • transitive verb To furnish with officers.
  • transitive verb To command or manage as an officer.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To minister; be of service.
  • To furnish with officers; appoint officers over.
  • To serve as officers for.
  • noun 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.
  • noun 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.
  • noun Used absolutely: One who holds a commission in the army or navy.
  • noun 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.
  • noun A policeman, constable, or beadle.
  • noun 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.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who holds an office; a person lawfully invested with an office, whether civil, military, or ecclesiastical
  • noun (U. S. Mil.) Specifically, a commissioned officer, in distinction from a warrant officer or an enlisted man.
  • noun etc. See under Field, General. etc.
  • noun (Mil.) the officer who, on a given day, has charge for that day of the guard, prisoners, and police of the post or camp; abbreviated O. D., OD, or O. O. D.
  • noun (Naut.) the officer temporarily in charge on the deck of a vessel, esp. a war vessel.
  • transitive verb To furnish with officers; to appoint officers over.
  • transitive verb To command as an officer.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a person authorized to serve in a position of authority on a vessel
  • verb direct or command as an officer
  • noun any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
  • noun a member of a police force
  • noun someone who is appointed or elected to an office and who holds a position of trust

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French officier, from Medieval Latin officārius, from Latin officium, service, duty; see office.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Late Latin officiarius ("official"), from Latin officium ("office") + -ārius ("-er").

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