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Operation

//ˌɒp.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən// noun

Definitions

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

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

  2. 2
    the activity of operating something (a machine or business etc.) wordnet
  3. 3
    The method or practice by which actions are done. uncountable
  4. 4
    a planned activity involving many people performing various actions wordnet
  5. 5
    The act or process of operating (verb): agency; the exertion of power, physical, mechanical, or moral. uncountable

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

Show 16 more definitions
  1. 6
    a process or series of acts especially of a practical or mechanical nature involved in a particular form of work wordnet
  2. 7
    A planned undertaking. countable

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

  3. 8
    a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body wordnet
  4. 9
    A business or organization. countable

    "We run our operation from a storefront."

  5. 10
    (mathematics) calculation by mathematical methods wordnet
  6. 11
    A surgical procedure. countable

    "She had an operation to remove her appendix."

  7. 12
    activity by a military or naval force (as a maneuver or campaign) wordnet
  8. 13
    A procedure for generating a value from one or more other values (the operands). countable

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

  9. 14
    a business especially one run on a large scale wordnet
  10. 15
    A procedure for generating a value from one or more other values (the operands).; A function which maps zero or more (but typically two) operands to a single output value. countable
  11. 16
    (psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents wordnet
  12. 17
    A military campaign (e.g. Operation Desert Storm). countable
  13. 18
    (computer science) data processing in which the result is completely specified by a rule (especially the processing that results from a single instruction) wordnet
  14. 19
    Effect produced; influence. countable, obsolete

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

  15. 20
    process or manner of functioning or operating wordnet
  16. 21
    the state of being in effect or being operative wordnet

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.

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