English
operation
Operation comes from Middle English operacioun, from Old French operacion, from Latin operātiō, from operor ‘to work’, from opus ‘work’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEopus‘work’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEoperor‘to work’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEoperātiō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400operacion‘action’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500operacioun
- Englishearliest quotation 1655operation
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEopus‘work’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEoperor‘to work’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEoperātiō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400operacion‘action’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500operacioun
- Englishearliest quotation 1655operation
Earliest quotation: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […]: “The bards […] had great operation on the vulgar.”
Formed from operate + -ion
Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work’
…
Proto-Italic *opos ‘work’
Latin opus ‘work’
Latin opera
Latin operātus ‘having worked’
English operate
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’
office, official, bus, copy, omnibus, copious, opulence, officiate, omnivore, officiant, officious, 25 more
through Latin opus ‘work, labor, accomplishment’
through Latin opera
ure, oeuvre, operetta, 12 more
through Latin operor ‘to work’
Today it means
noun The method by which a device performs its function.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin opus / operation