Information AboutOfficial |
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An elected official is a person who is an official by virtue of an Election ; officials may also be appointed, ''ex officio'' (i.e. by virtue of another office, often in a specified capacity, such as presiding, advisory, secretary), cooptated, or sometimes Hereditary . WORD HISTORY Official as a noun is recorded in English since 1314, from Old French ''official'' (12c.), from Latin ''officialis'' "attendant to a magistrate, public official," noun use of the original adjective officialis "of or belonging to duty, service, or office," from officium ' office'. Meaning "person in charge of some public work or duty" first recorded 1555. The adjective is first attested in English in 1533, via Old French ''oficial'', again from officialis.
USES OF THE NOUN =IN ROMAN ANTIQUITY An ''officialis'' (plural 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 In Canon Law , 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 . 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. The title of official principal, together with that of Vicar-general , has in (Anglican?) England been merged in that of Chancellor of a diocese. Other officials In in the capacity of a Linesman , Referee , and Umpire ; also secified by the discipline, e.g. American Football Official , Ice Hockey Official . The term ''officer'' is close to being a synonym (but has more military Connotation s). A functionary is someone who carries out a particular role within an organisation; this again is quite a close synonym for '''''official''''', as a Noun , but with connotations closer to Bureaucrat and so sometimes mildly Pejorative in English usage. 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 . Max Weber on bureaucratic officials Max Weber gave as definition of a bureaucratic official :
An official must exercise his judgment and his skills, but his duty is to place these at the service of a higher authority; ultimately he is responsible only for the impartial execution of assigned tasks and must sacrifice his personal judgment if it runs counter to his official duties. OFFICIAL AS AN ADJECTIVE As an Adjective , ''official'' often but not always means pertaining to the government, either as state employee or having state recognition, or to analogous governance, or to formal (especially legally regulated) proceeding as opposed to informal business. Some examples:
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