"office" in seven languages
Meaningoffice
Spanish
/ofiˈθina/
fem.other source · learned Latin OFFICĪNA 'workshop'
French
/byʁo/
masc.other source · Old French burel, the coarse woollen cloth that covered writing desks
plural: bureaux
Italian
/ufˈfitʃo/
masc.learned
Portuguese
/eskɾiˈtɔɾju/
masc.other source · Portuguese escrito 'written' (Latin SCRĪPTUM) + -ório
Romanian
/biˈrow/
neut.other source · French bureau
Catalan
/ufiˈsinə/
fem.other source · learned Latin OFFICĪNA 'workshop'
English
/ˈɔfɪs/
from Latin/French · Old French office
Watch out: false friends
officina (Italian) means “workshop, garage” · oficina (Spanish) means “office”
Both from Latin OFFICĪNAM 'workshop'. Italian kept the workshop; Spanish moved the work indoors to the desk.
oficina (Portuguese) means “workshop; car-repair garage” · oficina (Spanish) means “office”
Both from Latin OFFICĪNA 'workshop'. Portuguese kept the original sense, as Italian officina did; Spanish moved it from the workshop to the desk.
The Latin ancestor
OFFICIUM‘duty, service’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
False-friend alert: Italian officina is a workshop or car repair shop, not Spanish oficina. French bureau went from a cloth to the desk it covered, then to the room — and, via 'bureaucracy', to the whole state.
English relatives: office, official, officer
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLa oficina abre a las nueve.
- frLe bureau ouvre à neuf heures.
- itL'ufficio apre alle nove.
- ptO escritório abre às nove.
- roBiroul se deschide la nouă.
- caL'oficina obre a les nou.
- enThe office opens at nine.