Office hours

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. [1913 Webster]

I would I could do a good office between you. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. --Rom. xi. 13. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

They [the eyes] resign their office and their light. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Hesperus, whose office is to bring Twilight upon the earth. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

In this experiment the several intervals of the teeth of the comb do the office of so many prisms. --Sir I. Newton. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster +PJC]

6. The company or corporation, or persons collectively, whose place of business is in an office; as, I have notified the office. [1913 Webster]

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.] [1913 Webster]

As for the offices, let them stand at distance. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

8. (Eccl.) Any service other than that of ordination and the Mass; any prescribed religious service. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

{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. [1913 Webster +PJC]