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Origin and history of operose

operose(adj.)

"laborious, tedious, involving much labor," 1670s, from Latin operosus "taking great pains, laborious, active, industrious," from opus (genitive operis) "work" (from PIE root *op- "to work, produce in abundance"). Related: Operosely; operoseness; operosity (1620s).

also from 1670s

Entries linking to operose

*op-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to work, produce in abundance."

It might form all or part of: cooperate; cooperation; copious; copy; cornucopia; hors d'oeuvre; inure; maneuver; manure; oeuvre; office; official; officinal; omni-; omnibus; omnium gatherum; op. cit.; opera; operate; operation; operose; optimism; optimum; opulence; opulent; opus; Oscan.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit apas- "work, religious act," apnas- "possession, property;" Hittite happina- "rich;" Avestan huapah- "doing good work, masterly;" Latin opus "a work, labor, exertion;" Greek ompne "food, corn;" Old High German uoben "to start work, to practice, to honor;" German üben "to exercise, practice;" Dutch oefenen, Old Norse æfa, Danish øve "to exercise, practice;" Old English æfnan "to perform, work, do," afol "power."

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    Trends of operose

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    arduous
    1530s, "hard to accomplish, difficult to do, attended with much labor," from Latin arduus "high, steep," also figuratively, "difficult, hard to reach" (from PIE root *eredh- "high;" for which see ortho-). The literal sense of "high, steep, difficult to climb" is attested in Engli
    hard
    Old English heard "solid and firm, not soft," also, "difficult to endure, carried on with great exertion," also, of persons, "severe, rigorous, harsh, cruel," from Proto-Germanic *hardu- (source also of Old Saxon hard, Old Frisian herd, Dutch hard, Old Norse harðr "hard," Old Hig
    heavy
    Old English hefig "heavy, having much weight; important, grave; oppressive; slow, dull," from Proto-Germanic *hafiga "containing something; having weight" (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German hebig, Old Norse hofugr, Middle Dutch hevich, Dutch hevig), from PIE root *kap- "t
    laborious
    late 14c., "hard-working, industrious," from Old French laborios "arduous, wearisome; hard-working" (12c., Modern French laborieux), from Latin laboriosus "toilsome, wearisome, troublesome," also "inclined to labor, industrious," from labor "toil, exertion" (see labor (n.)). Mean
    opus
    "a work, composition," especially a musical one, 1809, from Latin opus "a work, labor, exertion" (source of Italian opera, French oeuvre, Spanish obra), from Proto-Italic *opes- "work," from PIE root *op- "to work, produce in abundance." The plural, seldom used as such, is opera.
    reproach
    mid-14c., reproche, "a rebuke, blame, censure" directed against a person; also "object of scorn or contempt;" c. 1400, as "disgrace, state of disgrace," from Anglo-French repruce, Old French reproche "blame, shame, disgrace" (12c.), from reprochier "to blame, bring up against." O
    angel
    "one of a class of spiritual beings, attendants and messengers of God," a c. 1300 fusion of Old English engel (with hard -g-) and Old French angele. Both are from Late Latin angelus, from Greek angelos, literally "messenger, envoy, one that announces," in the New Testament "divin
    certain
    c. 1300, "determined, fixed," from Old French certain "reliable, sure, assured" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *certanus, extended form of Latin certus "determined, resolved, fixed, settled," of things whose qualities are invariable, "established," also "placed beyond doubt, sure, tru
    rejoice
    c. 1300, rejoisen, "to own (goods, property), possess, enjoy the possession of, have the fruition of," from Old French rejoiss-, present participle stem of rejoir, resjoir "gladden, rejoice," from re-, which here is of obscure signification, perhaps an intensive (see re-), + joir
    bed
    Old English bedd "bed, couch, resting place; garden plot," from Proto-Germanic *badja- (source also of Old Frisian, Old Saxon bed, Middle Dutch bedde, Old Norse beðr, Old High German betti, German Bett, Gothic badi "bed"). This is said to mean perhaps "sleeping place dug in the g

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    Dictionary entries near operose
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