English
operative
Operative comes from Middle English operative.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500operative
- Englishearliest quotation 1692–1717operative
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500operative
- Englishearliest quotation 1692–1717operative
Earliest quotation: 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions: “It holds in all operative principles.”
Equivalent to operate + -ive
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, officiant, officious, omnivore, 24 more
through Latin opus ‘work, labor, accomplishment’
through Latin opera
ure, oeuvre, operetta, 11 more
through Classical Latin operor ‘to work, labor’
Today it means
adj Effectual or important.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English operative / operative