An officer is a

person A person (: people or persons, depending on context) is a being who has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations suc ...

who has a position of

authority Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group of other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' may be practiced by legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government,''The New Fontana Dictionary of M ...

in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," from Latin ''officium'' "a service, a duty" the late Latin from ''officiarius'', meaning "official."

Examples

Ceremonial and other contexts

*Officer, and/or Grand Officer, are both a grade, class, or rank of within certain chivalric orders and orders of merit, e.g.

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(France), Order of the Holy Sepulchre (

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

( UK), Order of Leopold (

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) *

Great Officer of State Government in medieval monarchies generally comprised the king's companions, later becoming the royal household, from which the officers of state arose. These officers initially had household and governmental duties. Later some of these offic ...

* Merchant marine officer or licensed mariner * Officer of arms * Officer in The Salvation Army, and other state decorations

Corporations

* Bank officer *Corporate officer, a corporate title **

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) **

Chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

(CFO) **

Chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

(COO) * Executive officer

Education

*Chief academic officer, a provost * Sabbatical officer

Law enforcement

Bylaw enforcement officer A bylaw enforcement officer (also called municipal law enforcement or municipal enforcement) is an employee of a municipality, county or regional district, charged with the Law enforcement, enforcement of local ordinance—By-law, bylaws, Law, l ...

* Corrections officer * Customs officer * Environmental Health Officer * Officer of the court * Parking enforcement officer * Police officer ** Police community support officer * Security officer,

Military

Officer (armed forces) An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an Military, armed force or Uniformed services, uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warra ...

* Commanding officer * Petty officer

Politics and government

* Chief Medical Officer * Foreign Service Officer, a diplomatic officer * Internal Service Officer, a diplomatic officer * Presiding Officer (disambiguation) * Returning officer

Shipping industry

* Captain (nautical), the person in charge of a merchant ship * Chief Engineering Officer, the person in charge of the technical department on a merchant ship *Chief officer or

chief mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the ship ...

, typically the person in charge of the deck department of a merchant ship * Coastguard Rescue Officer, a rescue officer employed by HM Coastguard *Second officer or second mate, typically the navigator and medical officer on a merchant ship *Third officer or third mate, typically the safety officer on a merchant ship * Second Engineering Officer, the person in charge of the engine room on a merchant ship * Third Engineering Officer, an Engineering Officer of the Watch

References

{{reflist Management occupations Positions of authority