Etymologically
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operation

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 18:46. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˌɒp.ərˈeɪ.ʃən/, US /ˌɑː.pəˈreɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English operacioun,[2] borrowed from Old French operacion (“operation, working, proceedings”),[3][4] from Latin operātiō (“a working, operation”),[3][2] a noun of action from the past participle of operor (“I work, labor”),[3][2] the source of operate, from opera “work, effort”, related to opus (“a work”).[3] Etymonline takes it to Proto-Indo-European *op- (“to work, produce in abundance”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Action, performance, work: about 1386,[5] the late 14th century,[3] also the performance of some science or art.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Working, the exercise of force or influence, is from 1390,[5] and the power to produce an effect from 1509.[5] Johnson (1755) defined it first as “agency; production of effects; influence”.[6] The surgical sense, an act performed on a patient's body, usually with instruments, is first attested in the 1590s, 1597 in the OED.[3][5] The military sense, a planned series of movements, is by 1749.[3] A business transaction, especially a speculative one, is from 1832,[5] and in operation, “working”, from 1818.[5] In mathematics an operation is a process such as addition.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – action, performance.[5]
  • 1390 – working, agency.[5]
  • 1509 – power to produce effects.[5]
  • 1597 – a surgical operation.[5][3]
  • 1749 – a military operation.[3]
  • 1818 – in operation.[5]
  • 1832 – a business transaction.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act or process of working or functioning: the operation of a machine.
  2. The state of being in effect: the law came into operation.
  3. A procedure in which a surgeon cuts into the body to repair or remove something.
  4. A planned military or police action.
  5. A business or organization; an enterprise.
  6. (mathematics) A process such as addition or multiplication.

Word family

  • misoperation
  • operationism
  • preoperation
  • suboperation
  • reoperation
  • binary operation
  • unary operation
  • opera
  • operable
  • operand
  • operant
  • operate
  • operational
  • operative
  • operator
  • opus
  • cooperation
  • office

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster