Etymologically
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operativus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔ.pɛ.raːˈtiː.wʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [o.pe.raˈtiː.vus][1]

Forms

operātīvus (feminine operātīva, neuter operātīvum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin operor (“to work”), with the suffix -īvus added to the stem of its participle operātus.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Latin Oribasius uses it of remedies, meaning effective: the juice of a herb is called very operativus.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The TLL glosses it as working or effective, said of divine power, of human nature and of medicines.[2] Augustine uses it of what was made through the Word, and the dictionaries render it there as creative or formative.[4][2][5][6] The Latin Alexander of Tralles also has it of a juice that works against deafness.[2]

In Medieval Latin it meant effective[7] and, in philosophy, concerned with action or causing an effect, as in virtus operativa.[8] Köbler lists it in the Summa theologiae.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 325–c. 403 AD – The Latin Oribasius calls a remedy operativus, effective.[2][3]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of creative divine power.[4][2][3]
  • c. 525–c. 605 AD – The Latin Alexander of Tralles uses it of a medicinal juice.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. effective, active, especially of remedies.[2][7]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) creative, formative.[4][5]
  3. (Medieval Latin) operative, concerned with action or causing an effect.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press