Where does “manœuvre” come from?

manœuvre (French) comes from Old French maneuvre, from Latin manuopera, from Latin manu, from Latin manus, from Proto-Italic manus, from Proto-Indo-European man- — human being; man; hand.

manœuvre (French): move, movement; operation, manoeuvre; manoeuvres

Definitions

  1. move, movement; operation, manoeuvre; manoeuvres

Ancestry of “manœuvre”, step by step

manœuvre traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Old French maneuvre

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmaneuvresomething done or crafted by hand
2Latinmanuoperawork done by hand, handwork
3Latinmanuablative singular of manus; by hand; with the...
4Latinmanushand; bravery, valor; violence, fighting
5Proto-Italicmanushand
6Proto-Indo-Europeanman-human being; man; hand

via Middle French manœuvre

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchmanœuvremaneuver
2Old Frenchmanovrehandwork, manual labor; handwork, manual labour
3Latinmanū opera

via Vulgar Latin manu opera

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vulgar Latinmanu opera

Words derived from “manœuvre

Every word from Proto-Indo-European man-Every word from Proto-Italic manusEvery word from Latin manus