424 
OFF 
OFF 
’Tis an office of great worth, 
And you an officer fit for the place. Shaliefpeare. 
A commander in the army.—I-fummon’d all my officers 
in ha fie. Dryden. 
If he did not nimbly ply th2 fpace. 
His furly officer ne’er fail’d to crack 
2 -lis knotty cudgel on his tougher back. Dryden. 
One who has the power of apprehending criminals, or 
men accountable to the law.—We charge you to go with 
us unto the officers. Shaliefpeare's Hen. VI. 
Thieves are poft'eft with fear 
So ftrongly, that they dare not meet each other; 
Each takes his fellow for an officer. Shaliefpeare. 
OF'FICERED, adj. Commanded ; fupplied with com¬ 
manders.—What could we expeft from an army officered 
by Irifh papilts and outlaws? Add fan's Freeholder. 
OFFI'CIAL, adj. \ojficiel, Fr. from office .] Condu¬ 
cive; appropriate with regard to ule.—In this animal are 
the guts, the ftomach, and other parts official unto nutri¬ 
tion, which, were its aliment the empty reception of air, 
their provifions had been fuperfluous. Brown. —Pertain¬ 
ing to a public charge : 
The tribunes 
Endue you with, the people’s voice. Remains 
That, in th 'official marks invelled, you 
Anon do meet the fenate. Shaliefpeare's Coriol. 
OFFI'CIAL, An ecclefiaftical judge, appointed by 
a bifhop, chapter, abbot, See. with charge of tiie fpiritual 
jurifdibtion of the diocefe. Alfo a deputy appointed by 
an archdeacon as his affiftant, who fits as judge in the 
archdeacon’s court.— Official is that perfon to whom the 
cognizance of caufes is committed by fuch as have eccle- 
fiaftical jurifdidlion. Ayliffe. —A poor man found a prieft 
over-familiar with his wife; and, becaufe he fpake it abroad 
and could not prove it, the prieft fued him before the 
biffiop’s official for defamation. Camden. 
OFFI'CIALLY, adv. By authority.—Some bitternefs 
is officially fqueezed into every man’s cup for his foul’s 
health. Sterne's Serin, on Penances. 
OFFI'CIALTY, f. The court or jurifdicHon of which 
an official is head.—The praftice of officialties is now re¬ 
duced into a little compafs; and actions of promifes and 
difiolutions of marriages, are the principal things tranf- 
aCted therein. Chambers. —The charge or poll of an offi¬ 
cial.— The office of an officially to an archdeacon. Ay life. 
To OFFFCIATE, v. a. To give in confequence of 
office : 
Ail her number’d ftars that feem to roll 
Spaces incompreheniible, for fuch 
Their diftance argues, and their Avift return 
Diurnal, merely to officiate light 
Round this opacous earth, this punbtual fpot. Milton. 
To OFFI'CIATE, v. n. To difeharge an office, com¬ 
monly in worfiiip.—No minifter officiating in the church, 
tan with a good confcience omit any part of that which is 
commanded by the aforefaid law. Samlerfon. —To perform 
an office for another. 
OFFICI'NAL, adj. [from ojfficina, Lat. a fhop.] Ufed 
in a (hop, or belonging to it.—I had always, in my offui- 
'nal ftate, been kept in awe by lace and embroideries. 
Johvfon’s Bumbler, N° 123. — Moft commonly ufed for 
apothecaries’ or druggifts’ (hops, and applied to fuch me¬ 
dicines, whether Ample or compound, as are required to 
be conflantly kept in readinefs in the apothecaries’ fhops, 
to be mixed up in preferiptions.—The officinal fimples are 
appointed, among us, by the College of Phyficians; and 
the manner of making the compofitions is directed in their 
Difpenfatory. Chambers. 
OFFICI'NAL, / [from the adj.] A plant or drug ufed 
in the (hops. 
OFFICINA'TOR, f. [from ojficina, Lat. a fhop.] An 
artificer; one who fuperintends the work of artifans. Cole. 
4 - 
OF'FICINE, f. A fliop ; a workhoufe. Cole. 
OFFICIOS'ITY, J\ [from officious.] Officioufnefs. 
Bailey. 
OFFI'CIOUS, adj. [oficieu.c, Fr. oficiofus, Lat.] Kind ; 
doing good offices : 
Yet, not to earth are thofe bright luminaries 
Officious; but to thee, earth’s habitant. Milton. 
Importunately forward.—At Taunton they killed in fury 
an officious and eager commiffioner for the lubfidy. Bacon's 
Hen. VII. 
You are too officious 
In her behalf that fcorns your fervices. Shaliefpeare. 
OFFI'CIOUSLY, adv. Importunately forward. — This 
was the rare model lb ojficioujly thatched up. Milton's 
Areopagitica. 
Fiatt’ring crowds offieiouffy appear, 
To give themfelves, not you, an happy year. Dryden. 
Dutifully; with proper fervice.—Truftingonly upon our 
Saviour, we a6t wifely and jullly, gratefully and ojficioujly. 
Barrow. —Kindly; with unalked kindnefs : 
Let thy goats offieiouffy be nurft, 
And led to living flreams to quench their thirft. Dryden. 
OFFI'CIOUSNESS, /.’ Forwardnefs- of civility, or re- 
fpebl, or endeavour. Commonly in an ill fenfe.—I (hew 
my officioufnefs by an offering, though I betray my po¬ 
verty by the meafure. South .— -Service.—-In whom is re¬ 
quired underftanding as in a man,.courage and vivacity 
as in a lion, fervice and minifterial officioufnefs as in the 
ox, and expedition as in the eagle. Brown. 
OF'FIDA, a town of the Popedom, in the marquifale 
of Ancona : fix miles north-eaft of Afcoli, and forty-two 
fouth-eaft of Ancona. 
OFF'ING, f. [from off] That part of the fea that is at 
a good diftance from fhore ; where there is deep water, 
and no need of a pilot to conduct the (hip into port.— 
If a fhip from fhore be feen failing out to ieaward, they 
lay file ftands for the offing ; and if a fhip, having the fhore 
near her, have another a good way without her, or to¬ 
wards the fea, they fay that fhip is in the offing. Chambers. 
OFFOLAN'KA, one of the fmaller Friendly Iflands. 
Lat. 19.35. S. Ion. 185. 31. E. 
OFFO'RO KIA'MEN, a poll of Chinefe Tartary. Lat. 
43. 58. N. Ion. 126. 42. E. 
OF'FRA, a town of Africa, on the Slave Coaft, where 
the Englifh and Dutch have a fablory: three miles fouth- 
weft of Jakin. 
OF FRANVILLE, a town of France, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Lower Seine : three miles fouth of Dieppe. 
OFF'SPRING, f. [Saxon.] Spenfer has placed the ac¬ 
cent on the laft fyllable, F. Q. iii. ix. 44.] Propagation ; 
generation.—-All things coveting to be like unto God in 
being ever, that which cannot hereunto attain perfonally 
doth feem to continue itfelf by offspring and propagation. 
Hooker. —The thing propagated or generated ; children ; 
defendants.—His principal abtor is the fon of a goddefs, 
not to mention the offspring of other duties. Addijon's 
Spectator. 
To the gods alone 
Our future offspring, and our wives, are known. Dryden. 
Production of any kind: 
Though both fell before their hour, 
Time on their offspring hath no power. Denham. 
To OFFUS'CATE, v. a. [offufeo, Lat. offufqucr, Fr.] 
To dim ; to cloud ; to darken.—Difdaining and defpifing 
all vice and lazinefs, which off'ufcate and diffame the 
children of good houfes. Wodroephe's Fr. Grammar, 1623. 
OFFUSCA'TION, f. The a 61 of darkening.—Is this 
the honour which man hath by being a little world, that 
he hath thefe earthquakes in himlelf, fudden fhakings ; 
thefe lightnings, fudden flafhes 5 thefe thunders, fudden 
noiles; thefe eclypfes, fudden offufeutions and darknings 
of his fenfes, See. Donne. 
OFF'WARD 
