officer

Etymology

From Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Old French officer, Late Latin officiarius (“official”), from Latin officium (“office”) + -ārius (“-er”).

noun

1. One who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police or government organizations.
2. A respectful term of address for an officer, especially a police officer.
3. One who holds a public office.
4. An agent or servant imparted with the ability, to some degree, to act on initiative.
5. (colloquial, military) A commissioned officer.

verb

1. (transitive) To supply with officers.
2. (transitive) To command as or like an officer.
   The regular battalions of the regiment, though officered mainly by Anglo-Welshmen of county families, did not normally contain more than about one Welshman in fifty in the ranks. 1929, Robert Graves, chapter 10, in Good-Bye to All That, London: Jonathan Cape, page 115