Ambtenaar Louis Dusée Zwaansteeg Utrecht v2

An official is someone who holds an office (function or

mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also r ...

, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...

or government and participates in the exercise of

authority In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''T ...

, (either their own or that of their superior and/or employer, public or legally private). An elected official is a person who is an official by virtue of an

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

. 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 The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

. Something "official" refers to something endowed with governmental or other authoritative recognition or mandate, as in

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

, official gazette, or official scorer.

Etymology

The word ''official'' as a

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...

has been recorded since the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...

period, first seen in 1314. It comes from the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

''official'' (12th century), from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''officialis'' ("attendant to a magistrate, government official"), the noun use of the original

adjective In linguistics, an adjective ( abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ...

''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 '. The informal term ''officialese'', the jargon of "officialdom", was first recorded in 1884.

Roman antiquity

An ''officialis'' (

plural The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...

''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

Canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

, 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''). The title of official principal, together with that of vicar-general, has in Anglicanism been merged in that of Diocesan chancellor of a diocese.

Sports

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

, the term official is used to describe a person enforcing playing rules in the capacity of a linesman, referee and

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per' ...

; also specified by the discipline, e.g.

American football official In gridiron football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. During professional and most college football games, seven officials operate on the field. Since 2015, Division I ...

ice hockey official In ice hockey, an official is a person who has some responsibility for enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. There are two categories of officials, on-ice officials, who are the referees and linesmen that enforce the rules du ...

. An official competition is created or recognized as valid by the competent body, is agreed to or arranged by people in positions of authority. Is synonymous, among others, with approved, certified, recognized, endorsed, legitimate.

Other

The term ''officer'' is close to being a synonym (but has more military

connotation A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation. A connotation is frequently described as either positive ...

s). A functionary is someone who carries out a particular role within an organization; this again is quite a close synonym for ''official'', as a

, 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 A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

Max Weber on bureaucratic officials

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas p ...

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

As an

, "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 A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history ...

, having national (or regional) recognition. *An

is a language recognised by a government, for its own use in administration, or for delivering services to its citizens (for example, on

signpost Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduce ...

s). *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; an ''official apology'' is an apology similarly issued by an organisation (as opposed to an apology by an individual). *''Official policy'' is policy publicly acknowledged and defended by an organisation. 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 A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes co ...

administered by the government or by a local authority, as opposite to a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

or religious school. *An ''

official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored, authorised or endorsed by its subject. The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced for a government. The term also applies to commissions from non-state bodies includin ...

'', 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 Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising ...

. *An ''official biography'' is usually on the same lines, written with access to private papers and the support of the family of the subject.