Etymologically
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manipulation

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /məˌnɪp.juˈleɪ.ʃən/ (UK); /məˌnɪp.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French manipulation,[2][3][4] from manipule (“apothecary's handful”),[4][2] from Latin manipulus (“handful, sheaf”),[2][3] from manus (“hand”) and the root of pleō (“to fill”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A method of digging silver ore: 1727–41 in the OED, by 1730 in Etymonline, a sense now obsolete.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In chemistry, the handling of apparatus in experiments is from 1796,[5][3] and the skilful handling of objects in general by 1826.[2][5] It was extended in 1828 to the managing of persons, especially to one's own advantage,[2][5] the main modern sense.[6] Manipulate is a 19th-century back-formation.[3]

Timeline

  • 1727–41 – digging ore (obsolete).[5]
  • 1796 – handling apparatus.[5]
  • 1826 – skilful handling.[2][5]
  • 1828 – managing people unfairly.[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Clever or dishonest control of people or situations, especially for one's own advantage.
  2. The act of handling or operating something skilfully.

Word family

  • automanipulation
  • micromanipulation

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin