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cooperor

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word cooperor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
Ultimate origin
Latin operor
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin operor
Latin cooperor

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [koˈɔ.pɛ.rɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [koˈɔː.pe.ror][1]

Forms

cooperor (present infinitive cooperārī, perfect active cooperātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin co- + operor (“to work”).[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first example is the Latin translation of the Shepherd of Hermas, where forgetting evil is said to work life as remembering it works death.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a Late Latin word,[3] used with a dative or with cum,[2] and common in the Vulgate: Mark ends with the apostles preaching Domino cooperante (“the Lord working with them”, Mark 16:20), and in Romans all things cooperantur in bonum for those who love God (8:28).[3] Things could also be its subject, as faith in James 2:22, fides cooperabatur operibus eius.[3]

Medieval writers used it of people working together, of God helping those who already will the good (Godescalc), and of the body working with the soul (Alfanus).[4] An active form coopero is also found.[5] English formed cooperate around 1600 from its participle cooperatus.[6]

Timeline

  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Mark, Romans and James.[3][7]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it in the Historia ecclesiastica.[3][8][7]
  • c. 1600 – English forms cooperate from it.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To work together (with someone), cooperate.[3][9][8][5]
  2. Of things: to work together, combine, contribute (to an end).[3][4]
  3. (Medieval Latin, theology) Of God or grace: to assist, help.[4]

Word family

  • cooperātiō
  • cooperātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
Cite this entry

“Cooperor.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cooperor. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·