officious (ofishus)

[F. officieux = Sp. ofi cio so = Pg. officioso = It. officioso, uffizioso, To whom they would haue bin officious helpers in building of the Temple. Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 151. Ask how you did, and often, with intent Of being officious , be impertinent. Donne, Expostulation. 2. Having a bearing on or connection with official duties, but not formally official. Old diplomatists must know the difference between an officious and an official conversation. The first is the free interchange of opinions between two ministers, and it compromises neither; the latter would do so, and would bind their Governments. Diary of Lord Malmesbury , quoted in [N. and Q., 7th ser., VI. 65. 3. Forward in tendering services; zealous in interposing uninvited in the affairs of others; meddling; obtrusive. You are too officious In her behalf that scorns your services. Shak., M. N. D., iii. 2. 330. I have a traveler's dislike to officious ciceroni. Irving, Alhambra, p. 53. IMG:content-1660.png:[blocks in formation] officiously (o-fish'us-li), adv. 1†. Dutifully; with proper service. Trusting only upon our Saviour, we act wisely and justly, gratefully and officiously . Barrow . 2t. Kindly; with solicitous care. We came much fatigued to a village where they very of ficiously supplied us with fewel, and provided a plentiful supper, without expecting any return. Pococke , Description of the East, II. ii. 82. 3. In a forward or obtrusive manner; with importunate forwardne ; meddlingly. The family shook him heartily by the hand, while little Dick officiously reached him a chair. Goldsmith, Vicar, vi. officiousne (o-fish'us-nes), n. The character of being officious; readine or eagerne to render unsolicited service; well-intentioned meddlesomene ; super serviceablene . officium (o-fish'i-um), n. See office, 10 (b). offing (ôf'ing), n. [ Some little cloud Cuts off the fiery highway of the sun, And isles a light in the offing . Tennyson, Enoch Arden. Lam. iii. 45. The common sort of strangers, and the off - skowring of mariners (here I do except them of better iudgement, as well mariners as others). Hakluyt's Voyages , I. 559. They were contented to be the off - scouring of the world, and to expose themselves willingly to all afflictions. Milton , On Def. of Humb. Remonst. The off scourings of the gaols which were formerly poured offscum (of's kum), n . and a. I. n. Refuse; scum. into the British army. Fortnightly Rev., XLIII. 22. But now this off - scum of that cursed fry Dare to renew the like bald enter prize. Spenser, F. Q., VII. vi. 30. I see the Drift. These off - scums , all at once Too idlely pampered, plot Rebellions. Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Lawe. II.t a. Vile; outcast. The offscum rascals of men. cut under bulb. They produce such a number of off - sets that many times one single cluster has contain'd above a hundred roots. Miller , Gardener's Dict., Lilio-Narci us. 2. A scion; a child; offspring. [Rare.] His man-minded offset rose To chase the deer at five. Tennyson , Talking Oak. 3. A spur or minor branch from a principal range of hills or mountains.-4. In surv., a perpendicular distance, measured from one of the main lines, as to points in the extremities of an inclosure, in order to take in an irregular section, and thus determine accurately the total area.-5. In com., a sum, value, or account set off against another sum or account as an equivalent, countervail, or requital sum; hence, generally, any counterbalancing or countervailing thing or circumstance; a set-off. If the wants, the pa ions, the vices, are allowed a full vote through the hands of a half-brutal intemperate population, I think it but fair that the virtues, the aspirations 4093 should be allowed a full vote, as an ofset, through the purest part of the people. Emerson, Woman. Thanksgiving was an anti-Christmas festival, established as a kind of off - set to that. S. Judd, Margaret, i. 10. 6. In arch., a horizontal break in a wall or other member, marking a diminution of its thickne . See set - off. Beautiful stone masonry, ornamented by buttre es and offsets. J. Fergu on, Hist. Arch., I. 186. 7. A terrace: as, grounds laid out in offsets. [Local, New England.]-8. In a vehicle, a branch or fork of metal used to unite parts of the gear, as the backstay to the rear axle.-9. In printing, a faulty transfer of superabundant or undried ink on a printed sheet to any opposed surface, as the opposite page. Also known as set - off. 10. A branch pipe; also, a more or le abrupt bend in a pipe, made to bring the axis of one part of the pipe out of line with the axis of another part. ofsee