officer

American  

[aw-fuh-ser, of-uh-] / ˈɔ fə sər, ˈɒf ə- /

noun

1. a person who holds a position of rank or authority in the army, navy, air force, or any similar organization, especially one who holds a commission.

2. a member of a police department or a constable.

3. a person licensed to take full or partial responsibility for the operation of a merchant ship or other large civilian ship; a master or mate.

4. a person appointed or elected to some position of responsibility or authority in the government, a corporation, a society, etc.

5. (in some honorary orders) a member of any rank except the lowest.

6. Obsolete.  an agent.

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verb (used with object)

1. to furnish with officers.

2. to command or direct as an officer does.

3. to direct, conduct, or manage.

officer British  

/ ˈɒfɪsə /

noun

1. a person in the armed services who holds a position of responsibility, authority, and duty, esp one who holds a commission

2. See police officer

3. (on a non-naval ship) any person including the captain and mate, who holds a position of authority and responsibility

   radio officer

   engineer officer

4. a person appointed or elected to a position of responsibility or authority in a government, society, etc

5. a government official

   a customs officer

6. (in the Order of the British Empire) a member of the grade below commander

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verb

1. to furnish with officers

2. to act as an officer over (some section, group, organization, etc)

Other Word Forms

• officerhood noun
• officerial adjective
• officerless adjective
• officership noun
• subofficer noun
• underofficer noun
• unofficered adjective

Etymology

Origin of officer

1275–1325; Middle English < Anglo-French; Middle French officier < Medieval Latin officiārius, equivalent to Latin offici ( um ) office + -ārius -ary; -er ², -ier ²

Example Sentences

Jared Bush, co-writer and co-director of “Zootopia 2” and chief creative officer of Walt Disney’s animation studio, attributed the film’s success to the way it speaks to everyone around the world.

From MarketWatch

As Mr. Hart points out, this “mechanical slaughter” anticipated others during World War I. Men who were ambitious young officers during the Sudan operations subsequently reached high command during the “Great War.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The original dispute followed the scrapping of a waste collection and recycling officer role, which Unite said would see affected workers lose up to £8,000 a year.

From BBC

Police officers investigating the Post Office Horizon IT scandal are now considering corporate manslaughter charges.

From BBC

“This is just fun, right?” said Zuzanna Stamirowska, co-founder and chief executive officer at Pathway, when I met with her and another member of the team at Wall Street Journal headquarters in November.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• agent
• chief
• civil servant
• deputy
• director
• executive
• leader
• manager
• official
• representative