Where does “operative” come from?
operative (Norwegian Nynorsk) comes from Norwegian Nynorsk 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 Nynorsk): inflection of operativ:
## definite singular
##...
Definitions
- inflection of operativ:
## definite singular
##...
Ancestry of “operative”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Norwegian Nynorsk | 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 |