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

Beating one of the top teams in the Western Conference was difficult enough, but the Sacramento Kings also had to overcome the officiating crew of Josh Tiven, John Butler and Che Flores in Sunday’s win against the Houston Rockets. —Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 22 Dec. 2025

The lawsuit was filed December 19 by Waco Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley against members of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, who sanctioned Hensley in 2019 for refusing to officiate same-sex weddings, the Texas Tribune reported. —Samantha Riedel, Them., 22 Dec. 2025

The officiating crew took time to get the mess sorted out. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 22 Dec. 2025

As The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski mentioned in his column, Finch’s frustration boiled over after years of disliking the way the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder can be officiated in comparison to other teams. —James Jackson, New York Times, 21 Dec. 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