Operator

How to spell operator

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce operator

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does operator mean?

1. nounA person who controls or works a machine, system, or piece of equipment.
2. nounA company or organisation that runs a particular business or service.

Operator in a sentence

• The crane operator lowered the steel beam into place.

• The tour operator refunded the cancelled trip in full.

• Each forklift operator must complete a safety course before starting.

• A mobile network operator raised its monthly charges this year.

Where does operator come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin operari, meaning 'to work' or 'to labour', which was itself built on opus, the Latin noun for 'a work' or 'a task'. From operari the Latin agent noun operator was formed, literally describing 'one who works' at something. English adopted operator in the early 1600s, at first in the broad sense of a person who performs a task or action. As technology spread, the meaning narrowed to people who work machinery, telephone switchboards, or vehicles, and it later picked up a mathematical sense for a symbol that performs an operation. The same opus root survives in everyday relatives such as 'operate', 'opera', and 'cooperate', and the steady -ator ending is the same agent pattern seen in 'creator' and 'spectator'.

How the word is built

• oper- (from Latin operari: to work)
• -ator (agent noun suffix: one who does)