Etymologically
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manipulate

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 25 October 2026 at 23:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /məˈnɪp.jʊ.leɪt/[1]
  • US: /məˈnɪp.jə.leɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from manipulation,[2][3][4][5][6] perhaps after French manipuler,[7] which was itself formed in French from its noun; the OED thinks both are independent of Italian manipolare and of the rare Medieval Latin manipulō (“to lead by the hand”).[2] The noun manipulation (1728) is borrowed from French manipulation,[2][4] from Spanish manipulación, used of alchemy in 1619,[2][3] from Latin manipulus (“handful, sheaf”),[2][3][8] a compound of manus (“hand”) and the root of pleō (“to fill”).[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Intransitive, in chemistry, to handle apparatus in experiments: 1827, in Michael Faraday's Chemical Manipulation.[2][4][9]

Semantic evolution

The noun manipulation named a method of digging ore (1727–41) and the handling of chemical apparatus (1796) before the skilful handling of any object (1826), and the verb followed it.[4] From 1834, in Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, manipulate meant to handle anything with skill;[2][10] the OED dates mental handling of ideas from 1856,[2] and the sense "to manage or influence in an underhand way" from 1862, in Carlyle's history of Frederick the Great,[2] which Barnhart and Etymonline date to 1864.[4][9] Barnhart finds manipulation for unfair changes to accounts already in 1828.[4] The financial sense, to raise or lower prices by illicit dealing, dates from 1870,[2][9] the sexual sense from 1884,[2] and therapy by moving the joints with the hands from 1899.[2] Etymonline notes its use as a euphemism for masturbation by 1949.[9] In computing, to operate on data, it dates from 1962.[2]

Timeline

  • 1827 – to handle apparatus in chemical experiments.[2][4]
  • 1834 – to handle with skill.[2][10]
  • 1856 – to handle mentally or logically.[2]
  • 1862 – to manage or influence by devious means.[2]
  • 1870 – to affect market prices artificially.[2][9]
  • 1884 – to stimulate sexually by hand.[2]
  • 1899 – in medicine, to treat by moving parts of the body.[2]
  • 1962 – in computing, to operate on data.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To handle, operate or work something skilfully with the hands or with a tool or machine: He manipulated the controls of the crane with ease.[8][10][2]
  2. To control or influence a person or situation cleverly, often unfairly or deviously.[8][2]
  3. To change or falsify figures, accounts or other records for one's own advantage.[8][4]
  4. (finance) To make the price of stocks, a currency or a commodity rise or fall by improper means.[2][9]
  5. To examine or treat a joint or other part of the body by hand, as in physiotherapy, osteopathy or chiropractic.[8][2]
  6. (computing) To process or edit data.[2]
  7. To stimulate sexually with the hand.[2][7]

Word family

  • manipulability
  • manipulatable
  • manipulative
  • manipulatively
  • manipulativeness
  • manipulator
  • manipulation
  • manipulatory

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster