opérer

Forms

opérer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin operor (“to work, to labour”), which in Late Latin also meant “to produce, to bring about” (early 5th century).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin verb, which also had the late active form operō, was derived from opus (“work”).^[3][4][6] The same verb, inherited, gave œuvrer and ouvrer, of which it is the learned doublet.^[3][1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rey dates the borrowing to about 1360; the TLFi's first example is in Froissart's Chronicles (late 14th century), in the sense “to do”, in the passive “to take place”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In 1492 it meant “to do something, to work”, and it was soon used of calculations in mathematics (1557) and of chemical work (1690).^[2][3] The sense “to act, to produce an effect proper to its nature” appears in Middle French (1470), of grace in theology (grâce opérante); it survives in the absolute use “to take effect”, of a remedy or a charm.^[2][3][8]

The surgical sense “to perform an operation on” is recorded in 1559, in a commentary on the surgery of Guy de Chauliac;^[2][3] the noun opéré “patient who has had an operation” follows in 1834.^[2][3] The reflexive s'opérer “to take place” dates from 1770, and finance used avis d'opérer from 1890.^[3][2] In slang the verb's very general meaning made it a euphemism for “to kill” (first “to guillotine”, 1881), “to rob” and, among burglars, “to break into”, uses that stayed within the underworld.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1360 – Rey's date for the borrowing.^[3]
• Late 14th century – Froissart uses it in the passive for “to take place”.^[2]
• 1470 – “To act, to produce its effect”, in the Livre de la discipline d'amour divine.^[2][9]
• 1492 – “To do, to work”, in the statutes of the trades of Gisors.^[2]
• 1557 – Used of mathematical operations.^[2][3]
• 1559 – First surgical use.^[2][3]
• 1770 – Reflexive s'opérer “to take place”.^[3]
• 1834 – Opéré “surgical patient”.^[2][3]
• 1881 – Slang “to guillotine”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To carry out, to bring about (an action or change) by a series of steps: opérer un tri, opérer une réforme.^[8][10][2]
2. (intransitive) To proceed, to act, to go about something: Les cambrioleurs opéraient la nuit.^[8][7]
3. (intransitive) To take effect, to work: Le sirop n'a pas encore opéré.^[8][2]
4. (dated) To produce, to cause (an effect).^[8][2]
5. To perform a mathematical or chemical operation: opérer une soustraction.^[10][7][2]
6. (surgery) To perform an operation on (a person or an organ): se faire opérer “to have an operation”.^[8][3][1]
7. (reflexive) S'opérer: to take place, to come about.^[3][1]

Word family

• opératoire
• opérable
• inopérable
• inopérant

Related words

• opérateur
• opératif
• opération
• opérationnel
• œuvrer
• ouvrer
• œuvre
• Latin opus
• English operate

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 367b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse