资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Office \Of"fice\, n. [F., fr. L. officium, for opificium; ops
   ability, wealth, holp + 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.

            I would I could do a good office between you.
                                                  --Shak.

   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.

   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.

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

   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.

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

            Hesperus, whose office is to bring Twilight upon the
            earth.                                --Milton.

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

   5. The place where a particular kind of business or service
      for others is transacted; a house or apartment in which
      public officers and others transact business; as, the
      register's office; a lawyer's office.

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

   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.]

            As for the offices, let them stand at distance.
                                                  --Bacon.

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

            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.

   {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

资料来源 : WordNet®

Little Office
     n : a Roman Catholic office honoring the Virgin Mary; similar to
         but shorter than the Divine Office