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 Horizon League suspended Green Bay Phoenix men’s basketball head coach Doug Gottlieb on Wednesday for one game after his epic tirade against officiating following a loss. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 19 Feb. 2026

Frenkel had been an old friend, introduced her to her husband in 1999 and officiated over their wedding in 2012. —Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2026

However, when their audience arrived at the Angel Orensanz Center on the Lower East Side, they were greeted with a wedding ceremony officiated by Broderick's sister, Janet Broderick Kraft. —Elle Meier, InStyle, 16 Feb. 2026

But in October, NIH announced that Woychik had been moved to a different role, and Kyle Walsh, a brain cancer epidemiologist and close friend of Vice President JD Vance’s (Walsh officiated Vance’s wedding), was taking over. —Aria Bendix, NBC news, 15 Feb. 2026

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