oficina

Oficina is a noun used in Spanish and Portuguese with several related meanings tied to workspaces. It can refer to a place where manual or technical work is performed—a workshop or repair shop. It can also denote a place where administrative tasks are carried out—an office or bureau. In broader use, it may indicate a department within a company or government responsible for a specific function. The exact sense depends on regional usage and context.

Etymology: The term derives from Latin officina, meaning workshop or storeroom, itself from officium, meaning service or duty. In the Romance languages, the word broadened from a physical workspace to include administrative and organizational spaces.

Usage in Spanish: In Spanish, oficina most commonly means an office—the place where professionals perform administrative tasks, as in oficina de correos (post office) or oficina gubernamental (government office). For hands-on crafts and repairs, taller is more typical, though in some contexts oficina can refer to a design studio or a department within an organization. A company’s central office or a government office are both referred to as la oficina.

Usage in Portuguese: In Portuguese, oficina predominantly means a workshop or repair shop (oficina mecânica, oficina de carros). The word for the administrative workspace is escritório or escritório, with oficina focusing on spaces used for production, craft, or collaborative work environments (for example, oficina de design or oficina de software). In Portugal and Brazil, the distinction between oficina and escritório is generally observed.

See also: workshop, office, studio.