different between official vs ambassador

English

Etymology

From Middle English official, from Old French official, from Latin offici?lis, from Latin officium (“duty, service”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??f???l/
• Rhymes: -???l

Adjective

official (comparative more official, superlative most official)

1. Of or pertaining to an office or public trust.

   official duties

2. Derived from the proper office or officer, or from the proper authority; made or communicated by virtue of authority

   an official statement or report

3. Approved by authority; authorized.

   The Official Strategy Guide

   1. (Of a statement) Dubious but recognized by authorities as truth and/or canon.

      Despite these testimonies, "accidental asphyxiation" remains his official cause of death.

4. (pharmaceutical) Sanctioned by the pharmacopoeia; appointed to be used in medicine; officinal.

   an official drug or preparation

5. Discharging an office or function.
6. Relating to an office; especially, to a subordinate executive officer or attendant.
7. Relating to an ecclesiastical judge appointed by a bishop, chapter, archdeacon, etc., with charge of the spiritual jurisdiction.
8. (slang) True, real, beyond doubt.

   Well, it's official: you lost your mind!

9. (pharmacology) Listen in a national pharmacopeia.

Antonyms

• unofficial

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

official (plural officials)

1. An office holder invested with powers and authorities.
2. A person responsible for applying the rules of a game or sport in a competition.

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:official

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• official in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• official in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• officiale, offycyal, offyciall, officiall, offecialle

Etymology

From Old French official, from Latin offici?lis; equivalent to office +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fisi?a?l/, /??fisial/

Noun

official (plural officials)

1. An underling of a member of the clergy, often heading a clerical court.
2. A hireling or subordinate; one employed to serve, especially at an estate.

Descendants

• English: official
• Scots: offeecial

References

• “offici?l, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-20.

Adjective

official (plural and weak singular officiale)

1. (of body parts) Functional; serving a purpose.
2. (rare) Requisite or mandatory for a task.

Descendants

• English: official
• Scots: offeecial

References

• “offici?l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-20.

Old French

Alternative forms

• officiel

Noun

official m (oblique plural officiaus or officiax or officials, nominative singular officiaus or officiax or officials, nominative plural official)

1. court official
2. chamber pot

Adjective

official m (oblique and nominative feminine singular officiale)

1. official; certified or permitted by an authoritative source

Descendants

• ? Middle English: official, officiale, offycyal, offyciall, officiall, offecialle
  • English: official
  • Scots: offeecial
• French: officiel

Portuguese

Adjective

official (plural officiaes, comparable)

1. Obsolete spelling of oficial

Noun

official m, f (plural officiaes)

1. Obsolete spelling of oficial

English

Alternative forms

• ambassadour (obsolete)
• embassador (archaic)
• embassadour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English ambassadore, from Anglo-Norman ambassadeur, ambassateur, from Old Italian ambassatore, ambassadore, from Old Occitan ambaisador (“ambassador”), derivative of ambaissa (“service, mission, errand”), from Medieval Latin ambasiator, from Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (andbahti, “service, function”), from Proto-Germanic *ambahtij? (“service, office”), derivative of Proto-Germanic *ambahtaz (“servant”), from Gaulish ambaxtos ("servant"; also the source of Latin ambactus (“vassal, servant, dependent”)), from Proto-Celtic *ambaxtos (“servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?m?b?i-h?e?- (“drive around”), from *h?m?b?i- (“around”) + *h?e?- (“to drive”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /æm?bæs.?.d?(?)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /æm?bæs.?.d?/, /æm?bæs.??d??/

Noun

ambassador (plural ambassadors)

1. A minister of the highest rank sent to a foreign court to represent there his sovereign or country. (Sometimes called ambassador-in-residence)
2. An official messenger and representative.
3. A corporate representative, often the public face of the company.

   As front hall porter, you are an ambassador for the hotel.

Usage notes

• In English the preferred construction is (Nationality) ambassador to (Country) (the French ambassador to the United States) or ambassador of (Sending Country) to (Receiving Country) (the ambassador of France to the United States).

Derived terms

Related terms

• embassy

Translations

See also

• consul
• high commissioner