Etymology and origin of the French word manœuvre
manœuvre1 operation, handling
Etymology tree of manœuvre1
From the same root · manœuvre1
Pronunciation
- /ma.nœvʁ/[1]
Forms
manœuvre f (plural manœuvres)[1] Old French (Picard) manuevre (1248), maneuvre (1309); manœuvre from 1409, after œuvre.[2][3][4]
Etymology
The word for an operation by hand is inherited from Old French manuevre, inherited from Medieval Latin manuopera (“work done by hand, corvée”).[5][2][3][6] The Latin word is formed from manū, the ablative of manus (“hand”), and opera (“work, activity”), from opus (“work”), and is attested in a capitulary of Charlemagne (about 800) in the sense “corvée”.[5][2][6] Wiktionary takes it as a calque of Proto-West Germanic *handuwerk.[1]
Old Occitan had manevre “work” (about 1180).[5][2] Cognate with Italian manovra and Spanish maniobra.[7][8]
Earliest recorded meaning
In a regulation in the Cartulaire blanc of Corbie (1248) manuevres are manual services owed to a lord, a corvée; in 1309 maneuvre d'homme is manual work.[5][2]
Semantic evolution
Early in the 17th century the word was specialized in navigation as an operation for steering a ship (d'Aubigné, 1616), and by metonymy the ropes used for it (1643), with manœuvres courantes and manœuvres dormantes (1678).[5][2] The Académie recorded it in 1694 for the movements a general makes in war; the plural came to mean military exercises, as in grandes manœuvres (Napoleon, 1805) and champ de manœuvre (1830).[5][2]
Figuratively, from 1690 it was the conduct used to make an affair succeed, already mostly in a bad sense, and it entered politics in manœuvres ministérielles (1792), politiques (1802) and électorales (1835).[5][2] From 1876 it is also used of driving a vehicle or moving trains.[5][2] English manoeuvre was borrowed from it in 1757 in the military sense.[8]
Timeline
- c. 1180 – Old Occitan manevre “work” in Girart de Roussillon.[5]
- 1248 – Manuevres “manual corvée” at Corbie.[5][2]
- 1309 – Maneuvre d'homme “manual work”.[5]
- 1409 – The spelling manœuvre.[2][3]
- 1616 – d'Aubigné uses it for handling a ship.[5]
- 1643 – Used of a ship's ropes.[5]
- 1690 – Furetière records the figurative sense “scheme”.[5]
- 1694 – The Académie records the military sense.[5]
- 1757 – English borrows it as manoeuvre.[8]
- 1805 – Grandes manœuvres in Napoleon's letters.[5][2]
- 1876 – Used of shunting trains.[5]
Meanings
Noun
- The handling of a machine, device or tool, or the working of a mechanism.[5][1]
- An operation steering a ship or moving a vehicle: une manœuvre pour sortir du parking, also fausse manœuvre, a wrong move.[9][5]
- (nautical) The rigging used to work a ship: manœuvres courantes, manœuvres dormantes.[5][4]
- (military) A movement of troops, and in the plural, military exercises: grandes manœuvres.[9][5][1]
- (figurative) A scheme or set of moves to reach an end, often underhand: manœuvres électorales.[5][9]
Word family
- manœuvrer
- manœuvrable
- contre-manœuvre
manœuvre2 unskilled labourer
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1387
- Ultimate origin
- Vulgar Latin manuoperō
Pronunciation
- /ma.nœvʁ/[1]
Forms
manœuvre m (plural manœuvres)[1] Middle French menevre (1449), manneuvre (1480); manœuvre from 1559.[3]
Etymology
The word for a labourer is from French manœuvrer, as a deverbal noun.[5][3][2] Bloch and Wartburg list it as an agent noun beside the feminine noun.[6] The verb is from Vulgar Latin manuoperō (“to work with the hand”).[2][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
A Paris document of 1387 uses it for an unskilled manual worker, often hired by the day.[5][9]
Semantic evolution
Rey dates the sense “manual worker” to 1449 and the modern sense, a worker doing simple tasks as opposed to a skilled one, to 1468.[2] In 1752 Voltaire used it figuratively of a mere hack, as in manœuvre littéraire.[5] The regional manouvrier, from the old infinitive manouvrer, has a similar meaning.[2]
Timeline
- 1387 – First record, of an unskilled day labourer.[5]
- 1449 – The form menevre.[3][2]
- 1468 – Used in its modern sense of an unskilled worker.[2]
- 1752 – Voltaire's figurative manœuvre littéraire.[5]
Meanings
Noun
- An unskilled labourer, a worker doing tasks that need no training: embaucher deux manœuvres.[9][5][1]
- Manœuvre spécialisé: a labourer trained for one particular kind of task.[9][5]
- (figurative) Someone who does mechanical work without talent or originality.[5]
Word family
- manœuvre-balai
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ 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 28 29 30 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
- ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Manœuvre.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/man%C5%93uvre. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.
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