operation

See also: Operation and opération

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *h₃épos

Proto-Italic *opos

Latin opus

Latin opera

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos

Proto-Italic *-ātos

Latin -ātus

Latin operātus

Latin operor

Proto-Indo-European *-tisder.

Proto-Italic *-tjō

Latin -tiō

Latin operātiōder.

Old French operacionbor.

Middle English operacioun

English operation

From Middle English operacioun, from Old French operacion, from Latin operātiō, from the verb operor (“I work”), from opus, operis (“work”). Equivalent to operate +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɒp.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (General American, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, /ˌɑ.pɚˈeɪ.ʃən/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ˌɒp.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/
• Hyphenation: op‧e‧ra‧tion
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

operation (countable and uncountable, plural operations)

1. (uncountable) The method by which a device performs its function.

   It is dangerous to look at the beam of a laser while it is in operation.

2. (uncountable) The method or practice by which actions are done.
3. (uncountable) The act or process of operating (verb): agency; the exertion of power, physical, mechanical, or moral.

   Synonym: operating (noun)

   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 8:

     the pain and sickness caused by manna are confessedly nothing but the effects of its operations on the stomach and guts.

   • 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:

     Speculative painting, without the assistance of manual operation, can never attain to perfection.

4. (countable) A planned undertaking.

   The police ran an operation to get vagrants off the streets.

   The Katrina relief operation was considered botched.

5. (countable) A business or organization.

   We run our operation from a storefront.

   They run a multinational produce-supply operation.

6. (countable, medicine) A surgical procedure.

   She had an operation to remove her appendix.

   • 1750, W[illiam] Ellis, The Country Housewife's Family Companion […] , London: James Hodges; B. Collins, →OCLC, page 157:

     This done, ſhe performs the very ſame Operation on the other Side of the Cock's Body, and there takes out the other Stone; then ſhe ſtitches up the Wounds, and lets the Fowl go about as at other Times, till the Capon is fatted in a Coup, which is commonly done from Chriſtmas to Candlemas, and after.

8. (computing, logic, mathematics, countable) A procedure for generating a value from one or more other values (the operands).

   Synonyms: function, transformation

   1. (mathematics, more formally, countable) A function which maps zero or more (but typically two) operands to a single output value.

   The number of operands associated with an operation is called its arity; an operation of arity 2 is called a binary operation.

9. (military, countable) A military campaign (e.g. Operation Desert Storm).
10. (obsolete, countable) Effect produced; influence.
    • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):

      The bards […] had great operation on the vulgar.

Derived terms

• additive operation
• arithmetic operation
• binary operation
• black bag operation
• black operation
• ClickOps
• co-operation
• cottage food operation
• counteroperation
• cyberoperation
• DataOps
• DevOps
• DevSecOps
• disoperation
• driver-only operation
• dyadic operation
• floating point operation
• floating-point operation
• Gigli's operation
• group operation
• grow operation
• Hartmann's operation
• hyperoperation
• in operation
• interoperation
• intraoperation
• line of operations
• logical operation
• maloperation
• microoperation
• misoperation
• multioperation
• multiplicative operation
• operationism
• operationist
• operation of law
• oplan
• pivot operation
• postoperation
• preoperation
• Récamier's operation
• reoperation
• screwdriver operation
• set operation
• sex-change operation
• short-circuit logical operation
• special military operation
• special operation
• suboperation
• teleoperation
• unary operation
• unit operation

• (business or organization): mission operations

Related terms

• opera
• operable
• operand
• operant
• operate
• operational
• operative
• operator
• opus

Descendants

• → Japanese: オペレーション (operēshon)
• → Scottish Gaelic: opairèisean

Translations

method by which a device performs its function

Afrikaans: operasie Arabic: عَمَلِيَّة f (ʕamaliyya), عَمَل (ar) m (ʕamal) Bashkir: ғәмәл (ğəməl) Belarusian: дзея́нне n (dzjejánnje) Bulgarian: де́йствие (bg) n (déjstvie) Catalan: operació (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 运营 (zh) (yùnyíng), 操作 (zh) (cāozuò) Cornish: oberyans m Czech: provoz (cs) m Dutch: operatie (nl) f Estonian: toiming Finnish: toiminta (fi) French: opération (fr) f, fonctionnement (fr) m, exploitation (fr) f Galician: operación (gl) German: Betrieb (de) m Greek: λειτουργία (el) f (leitourgía) Hungarian: működés (hu), üzemelés (hu), működtetés (hu), üzemeltetés (hu) Icelandic: starf (is) n, vinnsla f Ido: operaco (io) Irish: oibriú m, oibriúchán m Italian: operazione (it) f Japanese: 作業 (ja) (さぎょう, sagyō), 操作 (ja) (そうさ, sōsa) Korean: 작용(作用) (ko) (jagyong) Norman: opéthâtion f Occitan: operacion (oc) f Polish: działanie (pl) n, funkcjonowanie (pl) n Portuguese: operação (pt) f Romanian: operație (ro) f, operațiune (ro) f, operare (ro) f Russian: де́йствие (ru) n (déjstvije) Spanish: operación (es) f Swahili: operesheni (sw) Swedish: operation (sv) c Tagalog: sakilos, operasyon Tamil: இயக்கம் (ta) (iyakkam) Turkish: çalışma (tr) Ukrainian: ді́я (uk) f (díja), ді́яння (uk) n (díjannja) Vietnamese: hoạt động (vi) Welsh: gweithrediad m

method or practice by which actions are done

Bashkir: ғәмәл (ğəməl) Catalan: operació (ca) f Czech: postup (cs) Estonian: toiming Finnish: toiminta (fi) French: opération (fr) f German: Betrieb (de) m Hungarian: eljárás (hu) Icelandic: starfsemi f, starfræksla f, rekstur m, framkvæmd f Ido: operaco (io) Italian: operazione (it) f Latvian: operācija f Norman: opéthâtion f Portuguese: funcionamento (pt) m Romanian: operație (ro) f Swahili: operesheni (sw) Tagalog: sakilos Turkish: çalışma (tr), işleyiş (tr) Welsh: gweithrediad m

the act or process of operating; agency; the exertion of power, physical, mechanical, or moral

French: gestion (fr) f Hungarian: tevékenység (hu) Italian: esercizio (it) m, gestione (it) f Tamil: இயக்கம் (ta) (iyakkam)

a planned undertaking

Belarusian: апера́цыя f (apjerácyja) Bulgarian: опера́ция (bg) f (operácija) Czech: operace (cs) f French: opération (fr) f German: Operation (de) f Hungarian: művelet (hu) Italian: operazione (it) f Macedonian: операција (mk) f (operacija) Polish: operacja (pl) f Russian: опера́ция (ru) f (operácija) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: опера́ција f Roman: operácija (sh) f Slovak: operácia f Slovene: operacija (sl) f Swahili: operesheni (sw) Ukrainian: опера́ція f (operácija)

a business or organization

Hungarian: cég (hu), vállalat (hu), szervezet (hu) Tamil: இயக்கம் (ta) (iyakkam)

surgical procedure

Albanian: operacion (sq) m Arabic: عَمَلِيَّة جِرَاحِيَّة f (ʕamaliyya jirāḥiyya), جِرَاحَة f (jirāḥa), عَمَلِيَّة f (ʕamaliyya) Armenian: վիրահատություն (hy) (virahatutʻyun), օպերացիա (hy) (ōperacʻia) Azerbaijani: əməliyyat Basque: operazio Belarusian: апера́цыя f (apjerácyja) Bengali: অস্ত্রোপচার (bn) (ostrōpcar) Bulgarian: опера́ция (bg) f (operácija) Catalan: operació (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 手術 / 手术 (zh) (shǒushù) Czech: operace (cs) f Danish: operation (da) c Dutch: operatie (nl) f Esperanto: operacio (eo) Estonian: lõikus, operatsioon Faroese: skurðviðgerð f Finnish: leikkaus (fi), operaatio (fi) French: opération (fr) f Georgian: ოპერაცია (ka) (oṗeracia) German: Operation (de) f Greek: εγχείρηση (el) f (encheírisi) Hebrew: ניתוח / נִתּוּחַ (he) m (nitúakh) Hungarian: operáció (hu), műtét (hu) Icelandic: aðgerð f, uppskurður m, skurðaðgerð f Ido: operaco (io) Indonesian: operasi (id), pembedahan (id) Irish: obráid f Italian: operazione (it) f Japanese: 手術 (ja) (しゅじゅつ, shujutsu), オペレーション (ja) (operēshon), オペ (ja) (ope) Kazakh: ота (ota) Khmer: ប្រតិបត្តិការ (prɑtebattekaa), សល្យកម្ម (salyĕəʼkam) Korean: 수술(手術) (ko) (susul) Kyrgyz: операция (ky) (operatsiya) Lao: ສັນລະຍະກຳ (san la nya kam), ສັນຍະກຳ (lo) (san nya kam) Latvian: operācija f Lithuanian: operacija (lt) f Low German: German Low German: Operatschoon (nds) f Macedonian: операција (mk) f (operacija) Malay: operasi (ms) Maori: tapahanga, pokanga, hāparapara Marathi: शस्त्रक्रिया f (śastrakriyā) Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Norman: opéthâtion f Norwegian: Bokmål: operasjon m Persian: جراحی (fa) (jarrâhi) Polish: operacja (pl) f Portuguese: operação (pt) f, cirurgia (pt) f Romanian: operație (ro) f Russian: опера́ция (ru) f (operácija) Scottish Gaelic: opairèisean m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: опера́ција f Roman: operácija (sh) f Slovak: operácia f Slovene: operacija (sl) f Spanish: operación (es) f Swahili: operesheni (sw), upasuaji (sw) Swedish: operation (sv) c Tagalog: operasyon Tajik: ҷарроҳи (jarroh-i) Tamil: அறுவை சிகிச்சை (ta) (aṟuvai cikiccai) Thai: ศัลยกรรม (th) (sǎn-yá-gam) Tumbuka: opareshoni class 9 Turkish: ameliyat (tr), cerrahî müdahale, operasyon (tr) Ukrainian: опера́ція f (operácija) Urdu: عمل جراحی (amal-e-jarrāhī), جراحی (jarrāhī), جراحت (jarrāhat) Uzbek: operatsiya (uz) Vietnamese: phẫu thuật (vi) Welsh: llawdriniaeth (cy) f

procedure for generating a value from one or more other values

Arabic: عَمَلِيَّة f (ʕamaliyya) Azerbaijani: əməl (az) Bashkir: ғәмәл (ğəməl) Bulgarian: опера́ция (bg) f (operácija), де́йствие (bg) n (déjstvie) Catalan: operació (ca) f Czech: postup (cs) m Esperanto: operacio (eo) Finnish: laskutoimitus (fi), operaatio (fi) French: opération (fr) f German: Operation (de) f, Verknüpfung (de) f Greek: πράξη (el) f (práxi) Hungarian: művelet (hu) Icelandic: aðgerð f Ido: operaco (io) Irish: oibríocht f Italian: operazione (it) f Japanese: 演算 (ja) (えんざん, enzan) Latvian: operācija f Low German: German Low German: Operatschoon (nds) f Maori: paheko Norman: opéthâtion f Persian: عمل (fa) ('amal) Polish: operacja (pl) f Portuguese: operação (pt) f Russian: опера́ция (ru) f (operácija), де́йствие (ru) n (déjstvije) Spanish: operación (es) m Swahili: operesheni (sw) Tajik: амал (tg) (amal) Turkish: işlem (tr)

military campaign

Albanian: please add this translation if you can Arabic: عَمَلِيَّات f pl (ʕamaliyyāt) Armenian: օպերացիա (hy) (ōperacʻia) Azerbaijani: əməliyyat Belarusian: апера́цыя f (apjerácyja) Bulgarian: опера́ция (bg) f (operácija) Burmese: စစ်ဆင်ရေး (my) (cachcang-re:) Czech: operace (cs) f Dutch: operatie (nl) f Esperanto: operaco (eo) Estonian: operatsioon Finnish: operaatio (fi) French: opération (fr) f Georgian: ოპერაცია (ka) (oṗeracia) German: Aktion (de) f, Operation (de) f, Unternehmen (de) n Greek: επιχείρηση (el) f (epicheírisi) Hebrew: מִבְצָע (he) m (mivtsá) Hungarian: hadművelet (hu) Icelandic: aðgerð f, hernaðaraðgerð f Ido: operaco (io) Indonesian: operasi (id) Irish: oibríocht f Italian: operazione (it) f Japanese: 作戦 (ja) (さくせん, sakusen) Kazakh: операция (operasiä) Korean: 작전(作戰) (ko) (jakjeon) Kyrgyz: операция (ky) (operatsiya) Latvian: operācija f Lithuanian: operacija (lt) f Low German: German Low German: Operatschoon (nds) f Norwegian: Bokmål: operasjon m Persian: عملیات (fa) ('amaliyât) Polish: operacja (pl) f, działania n pl Portuguese: operação (pt) f Romanian: operație (ro) f Russian: опера́ция (ru) f (operácija) Slovak: operácia f Spanish: operación (es) f Swahili: operesheni (sw) Swedish: operation (sv) c Tagalog: operasyon Tajik: амалиёт (amaliyot) Turkish: harekât (tr) Ukrainian: опера́ція f (operácija) Urdu: کارروائی (kār-ravā'ī), عملیہ (amaliya) Võro: opõratsiuun' Welsh: ymgyrch

References

• operation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• “operation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “operation”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• petronoia

Interlingua

Noun

operation (plural operationes)

1. operation (surgical procedure)

Middle French

Noun

operation f (plural operations)

1. function; role
   • 1595, Michel de Montaigne, Essais:

     C'est tesmoignage de crudité et indigestion que de regorger la viande comme on l'a avallée. L'estomac n'a pas faict son operation, s'il n'a faict changer la façon et la forme a ce qu'on luy avoit donné à cuire.

     It's testament of rawness and indigestion when one regurgitates meat in the same state as one swallowed it. The stomach hasn't done its function if it hasn't change the shape and the form of what one has given it to cook.

References

• “operation”, in Anglo-Norman Dictionary, Aberystwyth University, 2022–2025

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin operātiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔpɛraˈɧuːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

operation c

1. an operation (planned undertaking)
2. (medicine) an operation
3. (mathematics) an operation
4. (military) an operation

Declension

Declension of operation

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	operation	operations
	definite	operationen	operationens
plural	indefinite	operationer	operationers
	definite	operationerna	operationernas

References

• operation in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• operation in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• operation in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)