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Office \Of"fice\, n. [F., fr. L. officium, for opificium; ops
ability, wealth, help + facere to do or make. See {Opulent},
{Fact}.]
1. That which a person does, either voluntarily or by
appointment, for, or with reference to, others; customary
duty, or a duty that arises from the relations of man to
man; as, kind offices, pious offices.

I would I could do a good office between you.
--Shak.

2. A special duty, trust, charge, or position, conferred by
authority and for a public purpose; a position of trust or
authority; as, an executive or judical office; a municipal
office.

3. A charge or trust, of a sacred nature, conferred by God
himself; as, the office of a priest under the old
dispensation, and that of the apostles in the new.

Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I
magnify mine office. --Rom. xi. 13.

4. That which is performed, intended, or assigned to be done,
by a particular thing, or that which anything is fitted to
perform; a function; -- answering to duty in intelligent
beings.

They [the eyes] resign their office and their light.
--Shak.

Hesperus, whose office is to bring
Twilight upon the earth. --Milton.

In this experiment the several intervals of the
teeth of the comb do the office of so many prisms.
--Sir I.
Newton.

5. The place where any kind of business or service for others
is transacted; a building, suite of rooms, or room in
which public officers or workers in any organization
transact business; as, the register's office; a lawyer's
office; the doctor's office; the Mayor's office.
[1913 Webster +PJC]

6. The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose
place of business is in an office; as, I have notified the
office.

7. pl. The apartments or outhouses in which the domestics
discharge the duties attached to the service of a house,
as kitchens, pantries, stables, etc. [Eng.]

As for the offices, let them stand at distance.
--Bacon.

8. (Eccl.) Any service other than that of ordination and the
Mass; any prescribed religious service.

This morning was read in the church, after the
office was done, the declaration setting forth the
late conspiracy against the king's person. --Evelyn.

{Holy office}. Same as {Inquisition}, n., 3.

{Houses of office}. Same as def. 7 above. --Chaucer.

{Little office} (R. C. Ch.), an office recited in honor of
the Virgin Mary.

{Office bearer}, an officer; one who has a specific office or
duty to perform.

{Office copy} (Law), an authenticated or certified copy of a
record, from the proper office. See {Certified copies},
under {Copy}. --Abbott.

{Office-found} (Law), the finding of an inquest of office.
See under {Inquest}.

{Office holder}. See {Officeholder} in the Vocabulary

{Office hours}. the hours of the day during which business is
transacted at an office[5].

{Office seeker}. a person who is attempting to get elected to
an elected office, or to get an appointment to an
appointive public office.
[1913 Webster +PJC]