Other forms: manoeuvres
A manoeuvre is a skilful move, or a planned military exercise. A clever manoeuvre, on manoeuvres, a political manoeuvre.
The spelling is one of the hardest in English, with three vowels in a row; Americans write maneuver. The French behind it means handwork, from the Latin for hand and work, and the same root gave manure, which was originally land worked by hand.
1nounmanoeuvreA skilful move, or a planned military exercise.
“Parking in that tiny space took some clever manoeuvres.”
manoeuvre is a move.
Also accepted in games: maneuver
Old French manovre means handwork, from Latin manu operari, to work by hand. Manure is a relative.
Frankish
*handwerc — hand-work
Medieval Latin
manopera
Old French
manovre — handwork, manual labour
Middle French
manœuvre — manipulation, manoeuvre
English, today
manoeuvre
Built from
From Middle French manœuvre (“manipulation, manoeuvre”) and manouvrer (“to manoeuvre”), from Old French manovre (“handwork, manual labour”), from Medieval Latin manopera, manuopera (“work done by hand, handwork”), from manu (“by hand”) + operari (“to work”). First recorded in the Capitularies of Charlemagne (800 AD) to mean "chore, manual task", probably as a calque of the Frankish handwerc (“hand-work”). Compare Old English handweorc, Old English handġeweorc, German Handwerk.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA