Etymograph

English

oficina

Oficina comes from Spanish oficina ‘office’, from Latin officīna ‘workshop’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-1‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opis1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEops1
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEopifex1‘someone who does work’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEofficīna1‘workshop’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentoficina2‘office’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1890oficina2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Spanish oficina
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English oficina
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1890, William Howard Russell, Iquique to the Pampas: “The external aspect of the oficina was not unlike…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-Wiktionary, Spanish oficina‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opisWiktionary, Spanish oficinareconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEopsWiktionary, Spanish oficina
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEopifexWiktionary, Spanish oficina‘someone who does work’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEofficīnaWiktionary, Spanish oficina‘workshop’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentoficinaWiktionary, English oficina‘office’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1890oficinaWiktionary, English oficina. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1890, William Howard Russell, Iquique to the Pampas: “The external aspect of the oficina was not unlike…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’

operation, bus, operate, operator, opera, opus, omnibus, oeuvre, omnivore, 21 more

through Latin ops

copy, officer, official, optimum, copious, opulent, opulence, officiate, officiant, officious, 8 more

through Latin opifex ‘someone who does work’

office, 5 more

Today it means

noun A nitrate-producing factory in a Spanish-speaking country.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “oficina”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Spanish oficina. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- / oficina

Shirt and support for this word