An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of their superior 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 whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

. 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. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

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

official language An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

, official gazette, or official scorer.

Etymology

The word ''official'' as a

noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...

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 English pe ...

period, first seen in 1314. It comes from the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -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 ...

' (12th century), from the Latin ' ("attendant to a magistrate, government official"), the noun use of the original adjective ' ("of or belonging to duty, service, or office") from ' ("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 ' (

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

') was the official term (somewhat comparable to a modern civil servant) for any member of the (staff) of a high dignitary such as a governor.

Ecclesiastical judiciary

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

, the word or its Latin original ' 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 In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

and presides over the diocesan ecclesiastical court. The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' gives precedence to the title judicial vicar, rather than that of (canon 1420). The '' Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' uses only the title judicial vicar (canon 191). In German, the related noun ' 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" ('). 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 is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

, the term official is used to describe a person enforcing playing

rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule pertaining to the structure or behavior internal to a business * School rule, a rule tha ...

in the capacity of an assistant referee, referee and umpire; also specified by the discipline, e.g. American football official, ice hockey official. An official competition is created or recognized as valid by the competent body, is agreed to or arranged by people in positions of authority. It is synonymous, among others, with approved, certified, recognized, endorsed, and legitimate.

Other

The term ''officer'' is close to being a synonym (but has more military connotations). 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 ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...

. 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 (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Max Weber on bureaucratic officials

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

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 adjective, "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, 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 signposts). *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 Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

. *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 the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

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

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

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