: a special duty, charge, or position conferred by an exercise of governmental authority and for a public purpose : a position of authority to exercise a public function and to receive whatever emoluments may belong to it
b
: a position of responsibility or some degree of executive authority
: a place where a particular kind of business is transacted or a service is supplied: such as
a
: a place in which the functions of a public officer are performed
b
: the directing headquarters of an enterprise or organization
c
: the place in which a professional person conducts business
6
offices plural, chiefly British: the apartments, attached buildings, or outhouses in which the activities attached to the service of a house are carried on
function implies a definite end or purpose or a particular kind of work.
the function of language is two-fold: to communicate emotion and to give information Aldous Huxley
office is typically applied to the function or service associated with a trade or profession or a special relationship to others.
they exercise the offices of the judge, the priest, the counsellor W. E. Gladstone
duty applies to a task or responsibility imposed by one's occupation, rank, status, or calling.
it is the judicial duty of the court, to examine the whole case R. B. Taney
province applies to a function, office, or duty that naturally or logically falls to one.
I felt it was not my province to inquire Anne Brontë
Example Sentences
She works at our Chicago office. Are you going to the office today? The supervisor held an informal meeting in his office. Her office is on the top floor near the elevator. He misbehaved in class and was sent to the principal's office. We use the extra bedroom in our house as an office. We stopped by the lawyer's office to pick up some documents. He has been in office for a decade. He was voted out of office. He won the election and will take office at the beginning of the year. See More
Recent Examples on the WebChief Executive John Lee has taken a number of steps to ease the city’s isolation since being sworn into office on July 1. Felix Tam, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2022 The satisfaction of this car are mostly wired into the driver's office. Patrick Bedard, Car and Driver, 16 Sep. 2022 Ann Wolf took that tack for a local client who wanted to welcome daylight into a home office in the rear of her home. Allison Duncan, WSJ, 15 Sep. 2022 The stock market had its worst day since Joe Biden came into office. Fox News Staff, Fox News, 14 Sep. 2022 Accenture is encouraging but not mandating employees to come into the office. Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 14 Sep. 2022 Kinzinger, for one, released a three-minute audio compilation of vitriol and threats called into his office, including from one caller who threatened his wife and newborn baby. Meagan Flynn, Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2022 Then, Cradock called the plaintiff into his office without explanation and forced her into a surprise meeting with her abuser, the lawsuit claims. Lea Skene, Baltimore Sun, 14 Sep. 2022 Fickell walks into his office and tells him to expect a phone call. Nathan Baird, cleveland, 13 Sep. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, "position of authority, duties of a position, proper function, ecclesiastical service, space used for business or domestic functions," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin officium "beneficial act in fulfillment of an obligation, duty, functions in a position, post" (Late Latin, "ecclesiastical service"), contraction of opificium (attested in sense "constructive work"), from opi- (base of opis, *ops "power, ability" and oper-, opus "work, effort") + facere "to make, do, bring about" + -ium, deverbal suffix of function or state — more at opus, do entry 1
Note: Though officium is formally a contraction of opificium, their senses diverge, the latter noun maintaining a transparent relation to the agent noun opifex "craftsman, artificer."
1room/building where work is done辦公場所ADJECTIVE | VERB + OFFICE | VERB + OFFICE | OFFICE + NOUN | PREPOSITIONADJECTIVE➤big, huge, large, spacious寬敞的辦公室▸➤cramped, small, tiny狹小的辦公室▸➤plush豪華的辦公室▸➤high-rise高層辦公大樓◇London has relatively few high-rise office buildings compared to cities in the US.與美國城市相比, 倫敦的高層寫字樓相對少些。➤five-storey/five-story, ten-storey/ten-story, etc. * 5 層、10 層等的辦公樓▸➤glass-fronted, glass-walled (especially NAmE) 裝有玻璃幕牆的辦公樓➤busy繁忙的辦公室➤open-plan敞開式辦公室▸➤corner分區式辦公室▸➤back, front後勤部門;(公司等的)總辦事處▸➤air-conditioned有空調的辦公室▸➤paperless無紙辦公室▸➤permanent, temporary永久/臨時辦事處◇The company set up its first permanent offices in Manhattan.該公司在曼哈頓建立了第一個長期辦事處。➤private私人辦公室◇The prime minister arranged a meeting in his private office.首相在他的私人辦公室裏安排了一次會談。➤central, head, main, national總部;國內辦事處▸➤corporate, executive公司/行政辦公室▸➤area, branch, county, district, field (especially NAmE) , local, overseas, regional, satellite地區辦事處;分部;縣辦事處;區辦事處;現場辦事處;當地辦事處;海外辦事處;區域辦事處;附屬辦事處➤congressional, federal國會/聯邦辦公大樓➤council, government, state議會辦公樓;政府辦公樓;州辦公大樓▸➤administrative, editorial, press, sales, etc.行政、編輯、新聞、銷售等辦公室➤newspaper報社辦公樓➤medical (NAmE) 衞生監察部門➤dentist's, doctor's, nurse's, physician's, surgeon's, etc. (all NAmE) 牙醫診所、診室、護士辦公室、內科診室、外科診室等VERB + OFFICE➤manage, run管理辦事處➤come to, go to來辦公室;去辦公室▸➤arrive at, get to到達辦公室;上班▸➤leave下班◇What time do you usually leave the office?你通常幾點下班?➤come into, go into進入辦公室◇I sometimes go into the office on Saturdays when we're busy.有時忙起來我週六也上班。➤call, contact, reach打電話給辦公室;與辦公室聯繫;與辦公室聯繫上◇You can contact our sales office at this number.你可以打這個電話和我們的銷售部門聯繫。➤establish, open設立/開設辦事處◇We plan to open a New York office in the near future.我們計劃於近期在紐約開設一個辦事處。➤close關閉辦事處VERB + OFFICE➤overlook sth辦公大樓鳥瞰⋯◇an office overlooking the Hudson River一座鳥瞰哈得孫河的辦公大樓OFFICE + NOUN➤job, work辦公室工作▸➤hours辦公時間◇Call this number outside normal office hours.正常辦公時間以外打這個電話。➤colleague, staff, worker辦公室同事/職員/工作人員▸➤life辦公室生活▸➤gossip, politics辦公室閒言碎語/政治▸➤party辦公室的聚會◇We have an office party every Christmas.每年聖誕節我們都在辦公室搞聯歡會。➤administrator, assistant, cleaner, clerk, manager辦公室行政人員/助理/清潔人員/文書/主管▸➤boy, girl, junior (BrE, allold-fashioned) 辦公室男勤雜員;辦公室女勤雜員;辦公室勤雜員▸➤chair, computer, desk, door, equipment, furniture, software, stationery, supplies辦公椅;辦公電腦;辦公桌;辦公室的門;辦公設備;辦公傢具;辦公軟件;辦公文具;辦公用品▸➤system, technology辦公系統/技術設備▸➤environment辦公環境◇Working in a busy office environment can be stressful.在繁忙的辦公環境中工作會很有壓力。➤accommodation, area, block, building, complex, development, park, premises, space, suite, tower辦公場所;辦公區;辦公大樓;商務花園;辦公套間;辦公塔樓◇The old warehouses have been redeveloped as office buildings.舊倉庫改建成辦公場所了。➤facilities, services辦公設施/服務◇The hotel provides office facilities such as computers and faxes.該賓館提供計算機、傳真機等辦公設備。➤expenses辦公支出➤administration, management辦公室管理▸➤skills辦公技巧▸➤procedures辦公程序➤visit (NAmE) 診室就診◇the bill from an office visit to the doctor到醫生診室就診的收費單PREPOSITION➤at the office在辦公室◇I sometimes have to stay late at the office.有時我不得不在辦公室工作到很晚。➤in the office上班◇I'm sorry, Mr Anders is not in the office today.抱歉,安德斯先生今天沒來上班。office
noun²
2official position職位ADJECTIVE | VERB + OFFICE | OFFICE + NOUN | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤high, important顯赫的職位;要職▸➤minor較低的職位▸➤lucrative待遇優厚的職位➤elected, elective當選的/通過選舉產生的職位▸➤national, public公職▸➤ecclesiastical, judicial, ministerial, political教會/司法/部長級/政治職位VERB + OFFICE➤run for, stand for (BrE) 競選職位;成為職位的候選人◇He ran for office in the last presidential election.他參加了上一屆總統選舉。➤seek謀求職位◇She has never sought public office.她從未謀求過公職。➤hold, remain in, retain, stay in在職;繼續任職◇The president holds office for a period of four years.總統任職 4 年。➤be appointed to, be elected to獲任命為;獲選舉為▸➤be re-elected to, be returned to再次獲選擔任;恢復職位◇The government was returned to office by a large majority.該政府受到大多數人支持而再度執政。➤win贏得職位▸➤assume, be sworn into, come into, come to, enter, take, take up (especially BrE) 任職;宣誓就職;就任◇Mr Martens was sworn into office as prime minister in March.馬騰斯先生於 3 月份宣誓就任首相。◇The party took office in 1997.該黨於 1997 年上台執政。➤give up, leave, lose, relinquish, resign from, retire from, vacate放棄職位;離職;辭職;退休離任▸➤be driven from, be forced from, be forced out of, be removed from, be suspended from, be turned out of被迫離職;被迫下野;被免職;被停職;被撤職OFFICE + NOUN➤holder官員;公務員PREPOSITION➤in office執政◇The government seemed likely to remain in office for the next five years.這屆政府好像有可能在未來 5 年繼續執政。➤out of office在野◇The party has broken all the promises it made when out of office.該黨違背了在野時所作的所有承諾。PHRASES➤a candidate for office職位候選人➤duties of the office職責▸➤an office of state政府要職◇the three great offices of state: the prime minister, the chancellor and the foreign secretary (BrE) 三大政府要職:首相、財政大臣和外交大臣➤a term of office任期◇to be re-elected for a second term of office再次當選