operator English · revision 5999

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1597|origins=la-lat operator}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɒpəˌɹeɪtə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɑpəˌɹeɪtɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an agent noun from [[operate]],^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) or it is [[bor|la-lat|operātor|t=a worker]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|operātus]], past participle of operārī “to work”, from opus “work”.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who performs the practical or mechanical operations of an art, and a surgeon who operates: 1597 in the OED;^(OED 1989) MWU dates the noun to 1598, and Etymonline to the 1590s.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A worker or agent in general is from 1611, and a quack maker of drugs from 1674.^(OED 1989) One who carries on financial operations in stocks and commodities is from 1828,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and one who carries on business shrewdly, by 1828 in Etymonline, led to the informal sense, a person who manipulates people and affairs.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023) One who works a telegraph is from 1847, and a telephone switchboard from 1884.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In mathematics an operator is a symbol for an operation, such as the differential operator.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1597 – a practitioner; a surgeon.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1828 – a stock-market operator.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1847 – a telegraph operator.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1884 – a telephone operator.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who works a [[machine]] or device.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who connects calls at a telephone switchboard.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # A person or company that owns or runs a business: ''a tour operator''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A shrewd person who manipulates others to get what they want.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A symbol that stands for an operation.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[opera]]

+ * [[operable]]

+ * [[operand]]

+ * [[operant]]

+ * [[operate]]

+ * [[operation]]

+ * [[operational]]

+ * [[operative]]

+ * [[opus]]

+ * [[cooperate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}