officiating

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Related to officiating: Sports Officiating

of·fi·ci·ate

(ə-fĭsh′ē-āt′)

v. of·fi·ci·at·ed, of·fi·ci·at·ing, of·fi·ci·ates

v.intr.

1. To perform the duties and functions of an office or a position of authority.

2. To serve as an officiant.

3. Sports To serve as a referee or umpire.

v.tr. Usage Problem

1. To perform from a position of authority (an official duty or function).

2. To serve as an officiant at (a ceremony): officiated the wedding ceremony.

3. To serve as a referee or umpire at (a game): officiated the hockey game.

[Medieval Latin officiāre, officiāt-, to conduct, from Latin officium, service, duty; see office.]

of·fi′ci·a′tion n.

of·fi′ci·a′tor n.

Usage Note: Officiate has long seen use as an intransitive verb, but it has recently developed transitive uses. In our 1997 survey, 91 percent of the Usage Panel approved of the intransitive use, as in the sentence The wedding was held in the garden, a minister and priest officiating. The Panel views transitive uses of the verb less favorably. In our 2009 survey, only 45 percent approved of the use of officiate in sporting contexts in the sentence He officiated National Hockey League games for 15 years. This percentage of approval, however, had risen from 38 percent in 1997. Support for officiate with a direct object in more traditional contexts, such as weddings, was somewhat lower. Only 34 percent approved of the sentence A minister officiated the wedding, which was held in a garden. Resistance in this case has not weakened since 1997.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

officiating - the act of umpiring; "the officiating was excellent"

officiation, refereeing, umpirage

deciding, decision making - the cognitive process of reaching a decision; "a good executive must be good at decision making"

Translations

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References in classic literature ?

The officiating priest was just finishing mass whilst D'Artagnan was looking at Bazin; he pronounced the words of the holy Sacrament and retired, giving the benediction, which was received by the kneeling communicants, to the astonishment of D'Artagnan, who recognized in the priest the coadjutor* himself, the famous Jean Francois Gondy, who at that time, having a presentiment of the part he was to play, was beginning to court popularity by almsgiving.

View in context

The clerk who had rescued Petya was talking to a functionary about the priests who were officiating that day with the bishop.

View in context

Even the officiating priest was only a harmless, humble-looking old man, who went through his duties resignedly, and felt visible rheumatic difficulties every time he bent his knees.

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Meanwhile the officiating clergy had got into their vestments, and the priest and deacon came out to the lectern, which stood in the forepart of the church.

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A pair of slipshod feet shuffled, hastily, across the bare floor of the room, as this interrogatory was put; and there issued, from a door on the right hand; first, a feeble candle: and next, the form of the same individual who has been heretofore described as labouring under the infirmity of speaking through his nose, and officiating as waiter at the public-house on Saffron Hill.

View in context

But subsequently that feeling became more and more deadened, and once when he was officiating in a depressed state of mind he felt that the influence produced on him by the service would not endure.

View in context

Taken aback by the notion of a man officiating a women's match, Afia asked Adnan Rashid the reason behind him taking the role to which she was informed that it was due to the lack of female umpires in the circuit.

Afia turned her dream of becoming an umpire into reality

Taken aback by the notion of a man officiating a women's match, Afia Amin asked Adnan Rashid the reason behind him taking the role to which she was informed that it was due to the lack of female umpires in the circuit.

Afia's dream of becoming an umpire took only a year to materialize

Nitin, who had represented Madhya Pradesh in U16, U19, U23 and list A matches, cleared the All India Umpiring Exam conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2006 and started officiating in BCCI domestic matches from the 2007-08 season.

Umpire Nitin Menon all set for Test debut

Marais Erasmus and Ruchira Palliyaguruge will join Kumar Dharmasena as the officiating umpires.

Umpire appointments for 4th and 5th Ashes Test - Press Release issued by International Cricket Council

Pakistan's international umpire Aleem Dar has equaled the record of officiating in the highest number of Test matches.

Aleem Dar equals record for most Test matches

20 in Litchfield with Father Pete Fox, priest of the Orthodox Church, officiating. The license was issued Apr.