An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either his own or that of his superior and/or employer, public or legally private).
A government official or functionary is an official who is involved in public administration or government, through either election, appointment, selection, or employment. A bureaucrat is a member of the bureaucracy. An elected official is a person who is an official by virtue of an election. 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 word official as a noun has been recorded since the Middle English period, first seen in 1314.[citation needed] It comes from the Old French official (12th century), from the Latin officialis ("attendant to a magistrate, public official"), the noun use of the original adjective officialis ("of or belonging to duty, service, or office") from officium ("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 oficial.
The informal term officialese, the jargon of "officialdom", was first recorded in 1884.
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Roman Antiquity [link]
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 [link]
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.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law gives precedence to the title Judicial Vicar, rather than that of Officialis (canon 420). The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches uses only the title Judicial Vicar (canon 191).
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 Anglicanism? England been merged in that of Diocesan chancellor of a diocese.
Other [link]
In sports, the term official is used to describe a person enforcing playing rules in the capacity of a linesman, referee and umpire; also specified by the discipline, e.g. American football official, Ice hockey official.
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 noun, 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 public official is an official of central or local government.
Max Weber on bureaucratic officials [link]
Max Weber gave as definition of a bureaucratic official :
- he is personally free and appointed to his position on the basis of conduct
- he exercises the authority delegated to him in accordance with impersonal rules, and his loyalty is enlisted on behalf of the faithful execution of his official duties
- his appointment and job placement are dependent upon his technical qualifications
- his administrative work is a full-time occupation
- his work is rewarded by a regular salary and prospects of advancement in a lifetime career.
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.
Adjective [link]
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:
- An official holiday is a public holiday, having national (or regional) recognition.
- An official language is a language recognised by a government, for its own use in administration, or for the use of citizens (for example on signposts).
- An official spokesperson would be 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.
- An official statement is 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 administered by the government or by a local authority, as opposite to a private school 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.
See also [link]
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Look up official in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Sources and references [link]
(incomplete)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Etymology OnLine
- Pauly-Wissowa
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Official (Canadian football)
An official in Canadian football is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.
Equipment
Canadian football officials generally use the following equipment:
- Whistle
- Used to signal that the play has ended.
- Penalty Marker or Flag
- A bright orange coloured flag that is thrown on the field toward or at the spot of a foul. It is wrapped around a weight, such as sand, beans, or small ball, so it can be thrown with some distance and accuracy.
- Down Indicator
- A specially designed wristband that is used to remind officials of the current down. It has an elastic loop attached to it that is wrapped around the fingers. Usually, officials put the loop around their index finger when it is first down, the middle finger when it is second down, and so on. Instead of the custom-designed indicator, some officials use two thick rubber bands tied together as a down indicator: one rubber band is used as the wristband and the other is looped over the fingers. Some officials, especially Umpires, may also use a second indicator to keep track of where the ball was placed between the hash marks before the play (i.e. the right hash marks, the left ones, or at the midpoint between the two). This is important when they re-spot the ball after an incomplete pass.
Rugby league match officials
Rugby league match officials are responsible for fairly enforcing the Laws of the Game from a neutral point of view during a match of rugby league football and imposing penalties for deliberate breaches of these Laws. The most senior match official is the referee, they may be assisted by a range of other officials depending on the level and rules of the competition.
Equipment
The match officials may use the following equipment:
Uniform
Match officials on the playing field including the referee, touch judges and in-goal judges all wear an official uniform of a colour distinguishable from those being worn by the two sides playing each other. These uniforms have no special markings to signify the official capacity of the wearer, instead this can be identified by the positioning and equipment of the official.
Refereeing systems
Different refereeing systems are in use:
Positions and responsibilities
Referee
The players of each team should be made available for kit inspection. The referee inspects the playing kit of the two teams to ensure it is within the rules, safety is the main concern. The boots worn by players can be of particular interest so as to make sure that there are no sharp edges. The strapping worn by some players has also been scrutinised.
