operationn.
/ˌɒpəˈreɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌɑpəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/ I. General uses.† 2. Action, performance, work; an instance of this. Obsolete.† 4. The action of making or producing something. Obsolete. rare.
1.
a. The exertion of force or influence; working, activity; a manner of working, the way in which a thing works.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > [noun]
workOE
operationa1393
workmanshipc1400
actionc1405
act?a1425
workinga1425
activityc1485
executiona1530
play1548
workfulness1570
inworking1587
acting1605
agency1606
operancea1625
transaction1663
operancyc1811
outworking1846
mediacy1854
functioning1856
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 998 Of this constellacioun [sc. Aries] The verray operacioun Availeth.
c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 47 (MED) The fallynge evill..is a syknes that compressith the ventriclis and the weys of the brayne, lettyng the operacion of the wyttis.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 177 A man and the worlde be assimilate..in operation virtualle.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 1911 (MED) Soeffre nature with hir operacion At hir owne leysere to make generacion.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Cor. xii. 6 There are divers manners off operacions and yet but one God which worketh all thynges.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Bv His [sc. a diamond's] vertue is to bewray poisons, and to frustrate thopperacion therof.
1611 C. Tourneur Atheist's Trag. (new ed.) v. sig. K2 The Starres whose operations make The fortunes and the destinies of men.
1675 W. Wycherley Country-wife iv. 65 To talk of Honour in the mysteries of Love, is like talking of Heaven, or the Deity in an operation of Witchcraft, just when you are employing the Devil, it makes the charm impotent.
1744 J. Harris Three Treat. i. 20 Can there possibly be Operation, without Motion and Change?
1774 Considerations Legislative Authority Brit. Parl. 18 The love of reputation..may have a contrary operation with regard to the Colonies.
1824 ‘R. Stuart’ Descr. Hist. Steam Engine 118 The operation of the condenser pump is very simple.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxvii. 213 Suggesting the operation of intelligence amid that scene of desolation.
1876 H. James Roderick Hudson v. 159 She was not..the sort of girl he would have been likely to fancy, and the operation of sentiment, in all cases so mysterious, was particularly so in this one.
1924 A. J. Allmand & H. J. T. Ellingham Princ. Appl. Electrochem. (ed. 2) xi. 184 Regular operation of the furnace is generally controlled by altering the height of the electrodes, and so varying the current.
1968 B. Spock Baby & Child Care (U.K. rev. ed.) 12 Psychological concepts..can seriously interfere with the operation of the parent's good sense.
1989 Lit 1 1 In deed as in word, textual meaning is participial, progressive, transactive, the operation of a signifying process in receipt by a reader.
b. The condition of functioning, or being operative or active. Chiefly in in operation, to come (also put) into operation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > [noun] > condition of being operative
gestion1599
working order1725
operation1792
running order1811
commission1829
commish1856
operationality1939
the world > action or operation > in operation [phrase]
aworka1398
at work1549
in action1584
on foot1586
in motion1598
in operation1878
1792 T. Paine Rights of Man: Pt. Second iv. 42 They could only confer..and put it into a train of operation.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. ii. 349 The operation of the new constitution..was ordained to commence.
1836 P. M. Latham Lect. Clin. Med. (L.) xiii It displays a power different in kind from that of blood letting, and coming into operation..after blood-letting has done all it can.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 80 Many other natural and artificial processes in daily operation.
1885 Manch. Examiner 16 Sept. 5/2 The sixpenny telegram rate will come into operation in the course of a fortnight.
1902 B. T. Washington Up from Slavery xvii. 311 There are in constant operation at the school, in connection with thorough academic and religious training, twenty-eight industrial departments.
1972 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 82 430 A magnificent 250 mm Cooke refractor, named ‘Kensington’ due to it having been first put into operation at the Solar Physics laboratory at Kensington.
1989 Times 7 Oct. 19/3 After one year of operation, Bond International Gold..announced a maiden net loss of $69.9 million.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > [noun] > performing practical operations
operationc1395
operating1638
the world > action or operation > doing > [noun] > an act or deed
deedc825
i-wurhtc888
workOE
casec1325
acta1393
actiona1393
operationc1395
featc1420
exploitc1425
commissionc1475
factc1487
practice1547
part1561
practisement1581
issuea1616
performancea1616
performenta1641
factum1641
coup1791
stunt1904
c1395 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 1148 Folk ne doon hir operacioun Alwey as dooth the fyr lo in his kynde.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. 3159 Ȝoure noble, royal excellence Consydre shulde..In euery werke and operacioun, To caste a-forn..Þe final ende.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1879) VII. 155 (MED) Everyche operacion or dede of man awe to be ponderate after the intencion of the doer.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lxxxvi. 117 To nourysshe the orphanes or faderles..is an operacion of Mysericorde.
a1500 (a1475) G. Ashby Dicta Philosophorum 51 in Poems (1899) 44 (MED) Beware of theim that lyve not truly, In iuste gouernance & operacion.
1567 Triall of Treasure sig. Aiiiv To horrible besides is thy operation.
1580 J. Hester tr. L. Fioravanti Short Disc. Chirurg. Ciiiv I say that the minister hath three operations to do.
c1600 W. Fowler tr. N. Machiavelli Prince in Wks. (1936) II. 153 A new prence is in all his actions and operations mair remarqued and observed then he quho is a prence by heritage.
3. † b. Effect or result produced; influence (up)on something. Obsolete.
a. Power to operate or produce effects; efficacy, force. Now chiefly Law.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [noun]
mainOE
mightOE
strengthOE
efficace?c1225
bootingc1300
effectc1390
powera1393
boota1400
efficacity1430
operationc1450
valure1483
feck1495
efficacy1527
effectualness1545
effectuousnessa1576
validity1593
effectiveness1607
workingness1611
efficaciousnessa1628
operativeness1627
efficiency1633
effectualitya1641
energy1668
availablenessa1676
availment1699
potentialness1727
affectingnessa1774
effectivity1838
efficience1865
well working1879
c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) 4013 (MED) Ther ben other trees mo Which ar cause of myche wo..Ther mortal operacion Is of swich condicion.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) i. 9 An olde antiquitie,..When..nature..More stronger had her operacion Than she had nowe in her digression.
1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII c. 8 §1 Endued with the knowledge of the nature kinde, & operacion of certein herbes, rootes, & waters.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 252 Goats fat is better then swines, not because it hath more operation in it to expell the greefe, but by reason it is thicke.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iv. xvi. 27 If Knife, Drugges, Serpents haue Edge, sting, or operation . View more context for this quotation
1664 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania: 2nd Pt. v. 159 Toads are sometimes found in the midst of a firm stone, and give it Operation.
1739 D. Hume Treat. Human Nature I. iii. 277 Our present business..must be to find some natural production, where the operation and efficacy of a cause can be clearly conceiv'd and comprehended by the mind.
1796 E. Burke Let. i, in Wks. VIII. 161 That heartless and dispirited people, whom Lord Somers had represented..as dead in energy and operation.
1884 Law Times Rep. 50 3/1 He cannot..enlarge, in his own favour, the legal or equitable operation of the instrument.
1920 Act 10 & 11 George V c. 67 §69 For the purpose of bringing this Act into full operation.
1950 Appraisal Terminol. & Handbk. (Amer. Inst. Real Estate Appraisers) (ed. 2) 31 A decrease in value of property, primarily due to the operation of social forces beyond the control of the owner.
1991 Industr. Relations Law Rep. xx. 157 On 6 November 1987, the Ministry wrote to Expro confirming that their tender was accepted and that the operation of the contract would begin on 25 March 1988.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > [noun]
workinga1382
impression1390
actiona1398
affection1489
suppressiona1500
operation1525
influence1598
effect1608
manage1608
solicitation1626
attingency1642
influx1644
influency1651
incidence1656
attingence1678
influencing1754
impact1817
the world > existence and causation > causation > effect, result, or consequence > [noun]
proofc1330
worka1382
workinga1382
consequentc1386
effectc1390
processa1400
consequencec1400
sequel1477
efficacea1492
operation1525
branch1526
efficacy1549
trial1559
ensuing1561
repercussion1603
success1606
productiona1610
salutation1609
succeedinga1616
pursuancea1626
spawna1631
income1635
result1638
importance1645
consequency1651
product1651
causal1652
causate1656
consectary1659
propter hoc1671
inference1673
corollary1674
resultment1683
produce1698
recussion1754
development1803
suitea1806
eventuation1813
sequent1838
sequence1853
causatum1879
sequela1883
ramification1925
1525 T. Wolsey Let. 3 Apr. (Vesp. C.iii) f. 50 v His Matie may see that her assured loue towardes the same hath alredy such opperacone in her, that it is also confirmed by jellousye.
1590 W. Clever Flower of Phisicke 23 Fevers happening in mans bodie uppon contrarie and disseasonable operations of times.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. D2v Studies haue an influence and operation, vpon the manners of those that are conuersant in them. View more context for this quotation
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. i. 2 The Bards..played excellently to their Songs on their Harps; whereby they had great Operation on the Vulgar.
1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso i. xiv. 25 Though many remedies had been applyed..yet none of them had procured the desired operation.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 343 The continual conversing with such a crew of hell-hounds as I was, which had the same common operation upon me, as upon other people, I degenerated into stone.
1770 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xxxix. 101 We should..have..felt the operation of a precedent.
1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic ii. 29 Among the affections of the eye which..deceive..those also who witness their operation, may be enumerated the insensibility of the eye to particular colours.
1844 N. Hawthorne Artist of Beautiful in Twice-told Tales i He was redeemed by an incident..of which the shrewdest could not explain nor conjecture the operation on Owen Warland's mind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [noun]
shaft888
makinglOE
creationa1393
faction1440
uprearing1551
operationc1616
essentiating1635
emanation1742
naturing1880
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) iii. 879 It then did please High Iove ('ere he began mans operation) To give vnto the Angels their creation.
5. The action of operating a machine, engine, railway, business, etc.: see operate v. 7, 8.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [noun] > management or administration
dispositionc1374
ministrationc1390
disposing1406
procuration?a1425
guidingc1425
economy?1440
conduct1454
solicitation1492
regimenta1500
mayning1527
enterprisea1533
handlinga1538
conduction1565
manyment1567
disposure1569
conveyance1572
managing1579
disposement1583
government1587
carriage1589
manage1591
steerage1597
management1598
steering1599
manurance1604
fixing1605
dispose1611
administry?1616
husbandry1636
dispensatorship1637
admin1641
managery1643
disposal1649
mesnagery1653
contrectation1786
conducting1793
wielding1820
managership1864
operation1872
operating1913
case management1918
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > use or control > [noun]
handlinga1250
working?a1425
managing1579
wielding1581
wieldance1634
managery1654
manipulation1801
manoeuvre1834
operation1872
1872 J. Richards (title) Treatise on the construction and operation of wood-working machines.
1895 Westm. Gaz. 12 Jan. 3/2 Electricity has been used for the operation of the Montauk's turrets for some time.
1898 Times 22 Feb. 13/5 In America..what with us is a single department [on Railways] is split into ‘traffic’ and ‘operation’.
1906 Daily Chron. 9 Oct. 5/6 The Chinese Government declares that the operation of the cable is a violation of Japan's former agreements.
1967 Appraisal Terminol. & Handbk. (Amer. Inst. Real Estate Appraisers) (ed. 5) 215 The mechanical equipment necessary to the operation of a grain elevator.
1991 Utne Reader July 96/3 State and local governments can promote local ownership, management, and operation of small businesses like bed-and-breakfasts.
1991 Constr. Equipm. Oct. 20/1 (advt.) The Multi-Loader..combines wireless remote control operation of a swing boom, winch, and 100-square-foot all-steel tilt bed.
II. Technical and specialized uses.† 8. Something made; a product, work. Obsolete.
6.
a. An act of a practical or technical nature, esp. one forming a step in a process.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > experiments > [noun] > action of making
operationc1395
experimentalism1842
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > [noun] > putting to a specific use > practical application
operationc1395
practicality1845
c1395 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 130 He wayted many a constellacioun Er he hadde doon this operacioun.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 1062 (MED) In Antymonye, arsenek..In malgams, in blaunchers, in citrinacions, Alle fille to nogthe in his operacions.
1555 R. Eden tr. G. F. de Oviedo y Valdés Summarie Gen. Hist. W. Indies in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 181v They..vsed certeine secreate magicall operations.
1646 Record's Ground of Arts (new ed.) 83 For your further practise..behold these operations, which I have wrought to prime minutes.
1684 J. Dryden Prol. Univ. Oxf. in Misc. Poems 268 Your Theories are here to Practice brought, As in Mechanick operations wrought.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. v. 71 He said perhaps I might wonder to see him employed in a Project for improving speculative Knowledge by practical and mechanical Operations.
1798 J. Austen Let. 27 Oct. (1995) 16 I bought some Japan Ink likewise, & next week shall begin my operations on my hat.
1828 Moore's Pract. Navigator (ed. 20) 236 If the latitude found thus differs considerably from the latitude by account, it will be proper to repeat the operation.
1873 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (1875) x. iii. 353 We ought to remember what a slow and painful operation reading is to the uneducated.
1927 P. W. Bridgman Logic Mod. Physics i. 5 To find the length of an object, we have to perform certain physical operations. The concept of length is therefore fixed when the operations by which length is measured are fixed.
1974 S. Middleton Holiday ix. 138 By this time Mrs Hollies had completed a complicated operation involving starch-free biscuits, cheese-slices and tomatoes.
1988 A. France Consuming Psychotherapy v. 109 The establishment of a trusting relationship is a delicate operation.
b. Originally U.S. A business transaction, esp. of a speculative kind: cf. operate v. 9. Also: a business venture or enterprise.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > business affairs > [noun] > a business transaction
negotiationa1500
feat1588
transactiona1656
job1660
business transaction1806
operation1832
society > trade and finance > [noun] > trading venture or speculation > an act of
adventure1548
venture1584
spec1794
operation1832
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > speculation > a speculation
adventure1548
venture1584
speculation1776
spec1794
operation1832
play1957
1832 Reg. Deb. Congress U.S. 22nd Congress 2 Sess. App. 107/1 The liability to be called upon for large advances, for the above operation,..makes it absolutely necessary that the limit should be strictly attended to.
1848 W. Armstrong Stocks 11 We conceive that this operation [sc. betting] is too well understood to need any particular explanation.
1889 Harper's Mag. Aug. 448/1 One is an operation, and the other is embezzlement.
1911 J. C. Lincoln Cap'n Warren's Wards xi. 178 I judged..that you were well enough acquainted with Wall Street to know that queer operations take place there.
1960 ‘E. McBain’ Give Boys Great Big Hand iv. 30 A photo of the bag on the front pages..might not be bad for our operation [sc. an airline]... You can't buy that sort of advertising space, now can you?
1989 European Investor Feb. 47/1 To that end we have our HQ in London, an operation in Jersey which is an autonomous unit, and we have Luxembourg offices, which are also autonomous.
c. U.S. A criminal activity or enterprise. Cf. operate v. 10.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a crime
crimec1384
broke1481
facta1533
malefact1534
penalty1579
malefaction1604
malefacture1635
job1679
offence1683
criminality1750
operationa1902
a1902 F. Norris Pit (1903) ix. 327 Crookes—who from the first had managed and handled the operations of his confederates—knew very well that if he now bought in all the wheat his clique had sold short, the price would go up.
1957 F. Kohner Gidget 44 First I figured I'd clue my old lady in on the whole operation but Larue talked me out of it.
2002 Austin (Texas) Amer. Statesman (Nexis) 22 Sept. h1 The kingpin in a criminal operation can get a lighter sentence than a foot soldier who has no information to trade.
7. A surgical procedure performed on a patient, esp. with the object of removing or repairing a diseased or damaged part of the body.Such procedures are sometimes designated by the name of the person or persons who first performed or described them, indicating the particular mode of treatment, as Taliacotian operation: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > [noun] > a surgical operation
operation?a1425
surgical1828
the knife1880
procedure1890
op1925
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 0v (MED) Cyrurgie is a party of Cerapeutici, i. of curing, heling men by inscisions & adustions & articulacions of bones..and by oþer operacioun of handes.
c1475 tr. Henri de Mondeville Surgery (Wellcome) f. 168 (MED) Smal woundis þat neden not to be sewid schal be left to þe worchinge of kynde, for operacioun of hond profitiþ not to hem.
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. 1 b/2 This worde operatione is an artificialle and normaticke applicatione wrought by the handes on mans bodye, wherwith the decayed health is restored.
1655 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian Enlarged i. ii. 11 Manual operations, or chyrurgery.
1706 tr. J. B. Morvan de Bellegarde Refl. upon Ridicule 67 What Curses might not the Physician expect, who should perform so wonderful an Operation?
1798 T. Jones Memoirs (1951) 34 I went with the Dr to a patient who was to be tap'd for a dropsy under his inspection, but..I did not care to see the operation.
1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 313 The Rev. M. Le François..having become an expert inoculator, instructed them how to perform the operation.
1863 Macmillan's Mag. May 25 [He] knew how to treat a patient after an operation as well as antecedently to it.
1922 E. Wharton Let. 23 May (1988) 452 I suppose you have heard that Sally Norton has had a very severe operation for tumour.
1963 H. Burn Drugs, Med. & Man (ed. 2) xi. 113 Operations were beginning to be carried out on the heart to repair defects in its valves and chambers.
2002 Top Santé Feb. 31/4 An operation called laser-assisted palatoplasty may also help.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [noun] > production > product
blossomc1230
fodmea1325
burgeona1340
progenya1393
geniture?1440
fruitc1450
productionc1450
offspring1573
product1573
nursling1591
bantling1593
excrement1600
procedue1602
issuea1616
procedure1626
creature1651
produce1657
parturition1659
outbirth1663
sequel1669
brat1678
operation1774
outgoing1850
fruitling1876
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. 5028 (MED) I, Nature..can my wirke and operacioun Riȝt as me list adourne & make fair, So peint & florische, it schal nat apeire.
c1450 tr. G. Boccaccio De Claris Mulieribus (1924) 650 (MED) To this appoyntment aggreyd both he and she [sc. Neptune and Athena] That, which cowde make most merveluss operacion, Of that grete cyte shuld haue the nominacion.
c1475 tr. A. Chartier Quadrilogue (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1974) 187 (MED) The ladys of the citee..constented thaire naturell and deerest ornamentes to be conuerted into the rude operacion and to be wrought by the harde handes of the workemen.
1600 (?a1425) Chester Plays (Harl. 2013) 3 The blessinge of my begyninge I geve to my first operacion.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. (new ed.) I. p. xiv The whole was the operation of one and the same people.
9.
a. A particular form or kind of activity; an active process: the discharge of a function.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > [noun] > a form or kind of operation
operation1562
energy1626
the world > action or operation > manner of action > [noun] > a particular mode of action
operation1562
1562 W. Fulwood tr. G. Gratarolus Castel of Mem. i. sig. B ij There be three operations of the soule in the braine, fantasie, reasonyng..and Memorie.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. xvi. 93 The actions of men are of sundry distinct kindes... There are in men operations some naturall, some rationall.
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. 30 Every thing manifestes its life by that operation which is most proper to it.
1697 J. Potter Archæologiæ Græcæ I. ii. xiii. 272 The Animal Spirits, which are the Instruments of Sensation, and all other Animal Operations.
1785 T. Reid Ess. Intellect. Powers i. i. 221 By the operations of the mind we understand every mode of thinking of which we are conscious.
1859 All Year Round 30 July 331/1 The Niger..had been going through the operation of ‘coaling’.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 76 During the operation of rusting, something must be absorbed by the metal.
1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz 500 Would'st thou live now, regularly draw thy breath! For suspend the operation, straight law's breach results in death.
1936 E. A. Atkins & A. G. Walker Electr. Arc & Oxy-acetylene Welding (ed. 3) xiii. 151 The operation of cutting is a simple one, and..the method of using a cutting blow-pipe can be achieved after a few hours practice.
1971 Tools & their Uses (U.S. Navy Bureau of Naval Personnel) (1973) i. 25 Countersinking is the operation of beveling the mouth of a hole with a rotary tool called a countersink.
1993 Water Quality (B.S.I.) §1.3 3/1 The operation of cleaning a filter with water by reversing the direction of flow.
b. Psychology. Esp. in Piaget's theory of children's development: a mental activity whereby the effect of actions or ideas is logically understood or predicted, and which evolves in nature with each stage of cognitive development. Cf. preoperational adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > logical mental activity > [noun]
operation1893
1893 Mind 2 233 A century before Herbart arose, they set aside and condemned the hypostatisation of mental forces under the influence of ‘universal’ names, which served only to obliterate from view the individualised and concrete operations.
1930 M. Gabain tr. J. Piaget Child's Concept. Physical Causality iv. 301 At each stage of intellectual development we can distinguish roughly two groups of operations.
1960 J. S. Bruner Process of Educ. iii. 37 Concrete operations, though they are guided by the logic of classes..are means for structuring only immediately present reality.
1985 Current Anthropol. 26 619/1 11 yrs. Formal-operations period: Hypothetical-deductive reasoning based on holding variables constant and systematic combinations.
10. Mathematics.
a. A process in which a number, quantity, expression, etc., is altered or manipulated according to set formal rules, such as those of addition, multiplication, negation, differentiation, the action of a function, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun]
fellowship1552
rule of two1612
calculus1684
numeration ortivea1690
operation1713
sum1803
1713 J. Ward Introd. Math. (ed. 2) iii. vi. 347 If the whole Æquation..be now taken, and we proceed to a Second Operation, the Value of a may be increas'd with twelve Places of Figures more, and those may be obtain'd by plain Division only.
1743 W. Emerson Doctr. Fluxions 39 The Series is Ay + B + Cy−1 + Dy−2 &c. and the Operation will be as follows.
1817 H. T. Colebrooke tr. Brahmagupta in Algebra 286 Operations, subservient to the eight investigations, have been thus explained.
1893 J. Edwards Differential Calculus for Beginners ii. 25 d/ dx is a symbol of operation which, when applied to y, denotes the result of taking the limit of the ratio of the small quantities δy, δx.
1946 Ann. Computation Lab. Harvard Univ. 1 50 Since the control tapes deal with operations only, they represent the solution of a mathematical situation independent of the values of the parameters involved.
1972 J. L. Gross & W. S. Brainerd Fund. Programming Concepts ix. 248 The first hexadecimal digit is called the operation code and specifies which operation is to be performed, such as add, subtract, print, etc.
1991 N. Higham in C. Bondi New Applic. Math. ii. 37 The third operation between vectors that we'll need gives what is called the inner product (or scalar product, or dot product).
b. In the numerical solution of simultaneous linear equations by relaxation: the process of changing the trial value of one of the unknowns in order to reduce the magnitude of one of the residuals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > algebra > [noun] > expression > equation > solution to > method of finding
relaxation1935
operation1940
1935 R. V. Southwell in Proc. Royal Soc. A. 151 65 In the operation considered, B is held fixed and A is moved.]
1940 R. V. Southwell Relaxation Methods in Engin. Sci. i. 1 The Relaxation Method takes it farther by devising methods of systematic adjustment: we apply a series of operations, each one an indirect solution of a particularly simple kind, and in this way we ‘tune up’ a trial solution..until it conforms with some imposed standard of accuracy.
1957 L. Fox Numerical Solution Two-point Boundary Probl. iii. 38 The computations are embodied in Tables 1 and 2, showing respectively the possible operations and details of the relaxation process.
1969 W. A. Watson et al. Numerical Anal. I. vi. 160 Usually the operation which reduces the magnitude of the largest residual is used at any stage of the working.
11.
a. Military. A strategic movement of troops, ships, etc., for military action. Also: a planned and coordinated activity involving a number of people. Usually in plural. See also combined operation at combined adj. b.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > [noun]
service?1560
operation1749
show1892
mission1910
op1916
party1918
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. ix. v. 349 The Fair One..determined on a short Cessation of Arms. Which Interval she employed in making ready every Engine of Amorous Warfare for the renewing of the Attack... No sooner then was the Cloth removed, than she again began her Operations . View more context for this quotation
1757 (title) A review of the military operations in North America.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall (1869) I. xxiv. 683 Their subsequent operations were left to the discretion of the generals.
1811 Duke of Wellington Let. to Earl Liverpool 11 Sept. in Dispatches (1837) VIII. 267 I had detained the 85th..in consequence of..the prospect of an early operation.
1836 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. V. xlii. 657 Not in regular battles with the English fleet, but in detached operations with smaller squadrons.
1885 U. S. Grant Personal Mem. I. xxi. 286 The true line of operations for us was up the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.
1915 R. W. Campbell Private Spud Tamson xiii. 167 Any chapter on training must also refer to night operations, generally called Night Attacks. These operations are never popular in times of training. They interfere with social engagements.
1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 170 Now, in a world at peace, operations are but a faint memory for the men.
1968 R. L. Ackoff in Internat. Encycl. Social Sci. XI. 291/1 British military executives turned to scientists for aid when the German air attack on Britain began... These teams of scientists were usually assigned to the executive in charge of operations.
1992 Times 10 July 5/1 PC Merron and another officer drank until 1am and played pool with unsuspecting regulars in a covert operation to expose ‘lock-ins’.
b. Used as the first element of a code name for a campaign (originally a military campaign). Now often humorous.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > [adjective]
operational1922
operation1938
1938 ‘Taffrail’ Operation ‘M.O.’ iii. 58 It's stuffed full of secret papers that I was going to work on at home! Operation ‘M.O’.
1941 New Statesman 26 Apr. 443/2 In this brief workmanlike account of the Evacuation from Dunkirk, Mr. Masefield..brings back a plain exact narrative of The Operation Dynamo (as the lifting was officially called).
1946 T. Driberg in Reynolds News 28 Apr. 4 Note to sub-editors and others: please cooperate in killing..the most overworked of current clichés—the whimsical application to a variety of topics of the military locution ‘Operation—’.
1950 National Geographic Mag. Sept. 367/1 ‘Operation Link’, they call the project because when completed, the 4-mile bridge will link Maryland's eastern and western shores.
1992 M. Riva Marlene Dietrich 104 The moment we arrived, out came the bottles of surgical alcohol: Operation Toilet Seat was underway.
Compounds
(Chiefly in senses 7 and 11.) C1.
a.
operation-crew n.
ΚΠ
1981 Jrnl. Operational Res. Soc. 32 683 Yet others are periodic, such as debate over types of operation-crew versus OMO, ticketing systems and network structure.
operation list n.
ΚΠ
1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. 9 471 An operation list is appended.
2002 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 9 Apr. 7 Her parents..were devastated when staff said the seriously ill child's name had been left off an operation list.
operation wound n.
ΚΠ
1876 Clin. Soc. Trans. 9 308 The discharge from the operation wound was intense.
1901 Jrnl. Pathol. & Bacteriol. 7 260 All apparatus was..carefully sterilised, and the operation wounds healed aseptically.
2002 Liverpool Echo 31 Jan. 1 Mr Fox, 74..needed a skin graft after an operation wound on his knee failed to heal.
b.
operations-crew n.
ΚΠ
1943 J. S. Huxley TVA 108 The operations crew..get their orders from the control room.
operations section n.
ΚΠ
1939 War Pictorial 22 Dec. 9 (caption) The gallery above is the Operations Section of the R.A.F. Fighter Command.
2002 Deseret News (Salt Lake City) (Nexis) 4 July a1 Grant Beebe, an operations section chief, said crews also plan to ‘back burn’ a section of the fire into submission.
C2.
operation code n. Computing a character or set of characters in an instruction that specifies the operation that is to be performed.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [noun] > instruction > specifying action
operation code1948
operation part1957
request1962
opcode1966
1946 Man. Operation Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (Harvard Computation Lab.) ii. 15 Every line of coding must contain a 7 in the Miscellaneous column or its equivalent in the form of some other automatic continue operation code.]
1948 Proc. Symp. Large-scale Digital Calculating Machinery 1947 76 An order may specify a number transfer and the initiation of an operation, and consists of four parts: an ‘out’ code, stating the source of the number; an ‘in’ code, telling where the number is to go; a ‘sign’ code, ordering the change, if any, that the sign of the number is to undergo during transfer; and an ‘operation’ code, initiating processes.
2000 W. Hopmann in R. Rojas & U. Hashagen First Computers iii. 310 The operation-code of a command..magnetizes one of the cores of a matrix decoder.
operation part n. Computing (now rare) the part of an instruction that receives the operation code.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [noun] > instruction > specifying action
operation code1948
operation part1957
request1962
opcode1966
1957 D. D. McCracken Digital Computer Programming ii. 14 Instruction Format... The first two digits..are called the operation part, and tell the machine what to do. The next four digits are termed the address part.
1969 P. B. Jordain Condensed Computer Encycl. 359 The operation part is usually at the left end of the instruction, and is of fixed length.
operation room n. (a) Medicine = operating room n. at operating n. Compounds 2; (b) = operations room n.
ΚΠ
1771 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1769 53 The royal infirmary is a spatious and handsome œdifice... The operation-room is particularly convenient.
1806 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. III. 239 The operation-room is a large circular apartment.
1977 Washington Post 7 Nov. c7/4 The new facility will have 16 operation rooms, plus two ‘surgicenters’ for patients needing minor surgery.
operations research n. U.S. = operational research n. at operational adj. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > [noun] > as basis of planning
operational research1941
operations research1943
1943 Ann. Math. Statistics 14 442 Mr. Blair M. Bennett is attached to the Operations Research Section of the Eighth Bomber Command.
1970 P. M. Morse in G. J. Kelleher Challenge to Syst. Anal. iii. 23 Operations research has emerged as a unified area of applied science..designed to influence policy.
1993 OR/MS Today Aug. 22/3 Operations Research has a very healthy future in the arena of distributed simulations for training.
operations researcher n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > [noun] > as basis of planning > one who carries out
operational researcher1948
operations researcher1948
1948 Amer. Statistician 2 1 The wartime operations researcher is often not in a position to know the extent to which rather highly developed techniques are already being applied in all phases of the industrial process.
1993 Brit. Med. Jrnl. (BNC) 30 Jan. 317 Waiting lists seldom resemble anything like the formal queue which operations researchers are so fond of modelling.
operations room n. chiefly Military a room where operations are planned and coordinated.
ΚΠ
1940 A. A. Michie & W. Graebner Their Finest Hour iv. 60 Operations room, where I got my ‘Gen’.
2000 Pop. Sci. Feb. 53 The data from every major satellite..or astronomical observatory..are available to forecasters in the operations room of the Space Environment Center.
operations table n. Mathematics (in the numerical solution of simultaneous linear equations by relaxation) a table showing the changes in the values of the residuals that result when each unknown in turn is increased by one.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > table
tableOE
time1863
multiplication table1881
operations table1940
simplex tableau1952
tableau1952
1940 R. V. Southwell Relaxation Methods in Engin. Sci. i. 8 Having completed the calculations we can present their results in an operations table.
1969 W. A. Watson et al. Numerical Anal. I. vi. 159 For ease of reference during the working it is convenient to summarise the effects on the residuals of unit changes in the unknowns in a table, usually referred to as the operations table.
operation table n. Medicine = operating table n. at operating n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > other surgical equipment > [noun] > operating table
table1706
operating table1850
operation table1896
1896 Westm. Gaz. 5 Mar. 3/2 Smoking his cigar..until he mounted the operation table.
1997 J. Hatfield & G. Burt Unauthorized X-Cycl. Revelations 286 After realizing that the episode was..‘on the operation table..with life support’, the producers..filmed some new footage..and re-structured the episode so that it made sense.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.a1393