Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “ouvrer” come from?

ouvrer (French) comes from Old French ovrer, from Latin operāre, from Latin operārī, from Latin Opus, from Ancient Greek Ὀποῦς, from Ancient Greek ὀπός, from Proto-Indo-European sokʷós, from Proto-Indo-European sekʷ- — to follow; to see; to say.

ouvrer (French): to work

Definitions

  1. to work

Ancestry of “ouvrer”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchovrerto work
2Latinoperāre—
3Latinoperārī—
4LatinOpus—
5Ancient GreekὈποῦς—
6Ancient Greekὀπόςjuice, vegetable/plant juice; fig-juice
7Proto-Indo-Europeansokʷósjuice of plants
8Proto-Indo-Europeansekʷ-to follow; to see; to say

Words derived from “ouvrer”

  • ouvrable
  • ouvroir
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sekʷ- →