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Permanent link for this word: ex officio

Aug 14, 2012

This week's theme
Latin terms in English

This week's words
corpus delicti
ex officio
ne plus ultra
ex post facto
cui bono

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

ex officio

PRONUNCIATION:

(EKS uh-FISH-ee-oh)

MEANING:

adverb, adjective: By virtue of one's official position. For example, the US Vice President is the ex officio president of the US Senate.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin ex officio, from ex- (out of, from) + officium (office, duty). Earliest documented use: 1532.

USAGE:

"The governor of New Jersey was an ex officio trustee of the University."
Joyce Carol Oates; Mudwoman; HarperCollins; 2012.

See more usage examples of ex officio in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Deep within the soul of the lonely caged bird / Beats the rhythm of a distant forest / Etched upon its broken heart / The faded memory of flight. -Ginni Bly, poet (b. 1945)

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