Operated

How to spell operated

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce operated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does operated mean?

1. verbPast tense of operate: to have run, controlled, or worked something, or to have performed surgery.

Operated in a sentence

• The surgeon operated on her knee early yesterday morning.

• He operated the harbour crane for nearly twenty years.

Where does operated come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past form of 'operate', which comes from the Latin verb operari, meaning 'to work' or 'to labour'. That verb was built on the noun opus (genitive operis), which simply meant 'a work', 'a task', or 'effort', a root that also gives us 'opus', 'opera', and 'cooperate'. English adopted 'operate' in the early 1600s, at first in the sense of producing an effect or working upon something, which is why doctors still speak of 'operating' on a patient. The mechanical sense of running or controlling a machine grew up later as industry expanded. The spelling stays regular: take 'operate', drop the silent final 'e', and add '-ed', giving the smooth four-syllable past form 'operated'.

How the word is built

• oper- (from operari: to work)
• -ate (verb suffix)
• -ed (past tense)