officiate

verb

of·​fi·​ci·​ate ə-ˈfi-shē-ˌāt 

officiated; officiating

intransitive verb

1

: to perform a ceremony, function, or duty

officiate at a wedding

2

: to act in an official capacity : act as an official (as at a sports contest)

transitive verb

1

: to carry out (an official duty or function)

2

: to serve as a leader or celebrant of (a ceremony)

3

: to administer the rules of (a game or sport) especially as a referee or umpire

officiation

ə-ˌfi-shē-ˈā-shən 

noun

Examples of officiate in a Sentence

The bishop officiated the memorial Mass.

Two referees officiated the hockey game.

Recent Examples on the Web

The couple married in 2019 in a ceremony officiated by Sutskever at OpenAI’s offices, with a robotic hand serving as ring bearer. —Dave Smith, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2025

Once there, Belichick shook hands with members of the officiating crew and watched the Horned Frogs warm up. —Aaron Beard, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025

The event was interpreted in American Sign Language by Durant’s childhood interpreter Doug Boen-Bailey, and officiated by the artistic director of Deaf West Theatre, David Kurs. —Emlyn Travis Updated, EW.com, 27 Aug. 2025

Dallas Wings coach Chris Koclanes turned his postgame comments into a critique of officiating Sunday after a 90-81 loss to the Golden State Valkyries, saying rookie guard Paige Bueckers deserved more protection from referees. —Grant Afseth, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin officiātus, past participle of officiāre "to perform a function, perform priestly duties," going back to Late Latin officiārī "to perform a function," derivative of Latin officium "duty, office"

First Known Use

1623, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Rhymes for officiate

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate

Kids Definition

officiate

verb

of·​fi·​ci·​ate ə-ˈfish-ē-ˌāt 

officiated; officiating

1

: to perform a ceremony

officiate at a wedding

2

: to act as an officer

officiated at the annual meeting

3

: to enforce the rules of (a game or sport)

officiate a soccer match