Where does “operative” come from?
operative (Norwegian Bokmål) comes from Norwegian Bokmål operativ, from French opératif, from Middle French operatif, from Latin operativus, from Latin operō, from Latin Opus, from Ancient Greek Ὀποῦς, from Ancient Greek ὀπός — to follow; to see; to say.
operative (Norwegian Bokmål): inflection of operativ:
## definite singular
##...
Definitions
- inflection of operativ:
## definite singular
##...
Ancestry of “operative”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Norwegian Bokmål | operativ | operative, operational |
| 2 | French | opératif | operative |
| 3 | Middle French | operatif | — |
| 4 | Latin | operativus | creative, formative |
| 5 | Latin | operō | — |
| 6 | Latin | Opus | — |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | Ὀποῦς | — |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | ὀπός | juice, vegetable/plant juice; fig-juice |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | sokʷós | juice of plants |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | sekʷ- | to follow; to see; to say |