Etymology From Middle English official, from Old French official, from Latin officiālis, from Latin officium (“duty, service”), by surface analysis, office + -ial.
Derived from the proper office or officer, or the appropriate authority; made or communicated by authority
an official statement or report
3
Approved by authority; authorized.
The Official Strategy Guide
4
Dubious but recognized by authorities as the truth or canon.
Despite these testimonies, "accidental asphyxiation" remains his official cause of death.
5
Medicine, Pharmacology, Sciences Sanctioned by the pharmacopoeia; appointed to be used in medicine; officinal.
an official drug or preparation
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Discharging an office or function.
the stomach and other parts official unto nutrition1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:
7
Relating to an office, especially a subordinate executive officer or attendant.
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Relating to an ecclesiastical judge appointed by a bishop, chapter, archdeacon, etc., with charge of the spiritual jurisdiction.
Etymology From Middle English official, from Old French official, from Latin officiālis, from Latin officium (“duty, service”), by surface analysis, office + -ial.
1
An office holder, a person holding an official position in government, sports, or other organization.
Officials in the Firefly administration assure the Sylvanians they don't want war either.
In most soccer games, there are three officials: the referee and two linesmen.
3 more examples
The company's officials became nabobs as it took on more and more power after Plassey.
...officials with their prehensile bottoms...1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. III:
If the takeover is approved, Comcast would control 20 of the top 25 cable markets […] Antitrust officials will need to consider Comcast’s status as a monopsony (a buyer with disproportionate power), when it comes to negotiations with programmers, whose channels it pays to carry.2014 March 15, “Turn it off”, in The Economist, volume 410, number 8878: