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.
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            I would I could do a good office between you.
                                                  --Shak.
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   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.
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   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.
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            Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I
            magnify mine office.                  --Rom. xi. 13.
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   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.
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            They [the eyes] resign their office and their light.
                                                  --Shak.
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            Hesperus, whose office is to bring
            Twilight upon the earth.              --Milton.
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            In this experiment the several intervals of the
            teeth of the comb do the office of so many prisms.
                                                  --Sir I.
                                                  Newton.
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   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.
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   6. The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose
      place of business is in an office; as, I have notified the
      office.
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   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.]
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            As for the offices, let them stand at distance.
                                                  --Bacon.
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   8. (Eccl.) Any service other than that of ordination and the
      Mass; any prescribed religious service.
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            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.
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   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.
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