operator

UK/ˈɒpəˌɹeɪtə/US/ˈɑpəˌɹeɪtɚ/

nounB2Very common — you will meet it every day · #1,769 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: operators

An operator is somebody who works a machine or a service. A crane operator, the operator answered, a tour operator.

In business it means the company running something rather than owning it, which is a real distinction in transport and telecoms. In older use the operator was the telephone exchange, and asking for the operator once got you a person.

Definitions of operator

1nounoperatorSomebody who works a machine or a service.B2
“The crane operator lifted the steel beams onto the roof.”

operator is a person.

Where it comes from

Latin operator comes from operari, to work, from opus, a work.

Proto-Indo-European
*h₃ep-
Latin
operātor
English, today
operator

Built from

operor · Latin — work, labour

Borrowed from Latin operātor, from operor (“work, labour”). Equivalent to operate + -or.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

operator in the wild

Non-trivial examples include rotations, reflections, and the Fourier operator.
Unitary operator
Most Delta Force operators and combat support members are selected from the Army Special Operations Command's 75th Ranger Regiment and U.S.
Delta Force
Broadly, both mobile network operators and MVNOs are mobile phone operators.
Mobile network operator
In the United States, Verizon and AT&T are the major mobile network operators.
Mobile network operator
All listed operators are in C++ and lacking indication otherwise, in C as well.
Operators in C and C++

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the operor family

operator operate

operator — used about once every 206 pages · #1,769 · point at the bar for the others

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