Editing Official (section)

{{Short description|Someone who holds an office}}
{{Other uses|Official (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Functionaries|the users on Wikipedia|Wikipedia:Functionaries|selfref=y}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
[[File:Ambtenaar Louis Dusée Zwaansteeg Utrecht v2.jpg|thumb|right|''{{Lang|nl|Ambtenaar}}'' ("government official"), by Louis Dusée, [[Utrecht]], 1961]]
An '''official''' is someone who holds an office (function or [[Mandate (politics)|mandate]], regardless of whether it carries an actual [[Office|working space]] with it) in an [[organization]] or government and participates in the exercise of [[authority]] (either their own or that of their superior or employer, public or legally private). An elected official is a person who is an official by virtue of an [[election]]. Officials may also be appointed ''[[ex officio]]'' (by virtue of another office, often in a specified capacity, such as presiding, advisory, secretary). Some official positions may be [[Inheritance|inherited]]. A person who currently holds an office is referred to as an [[incumbent]]. Something "official" refers to something endowed with governmental or other authoritative recognition or mandate, as in [[official language]], [[official gazette]], or [[official scorer]].