operator

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒpəˌɹeɪtə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑpəˌɹeɪtɚ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: op‧er‧ator

Noun

operator (countable and uncountable, plural operators)

1. One who operates.
   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.

2. A telecommunications facilitator whose job is to establish temporary network connections.
3. A member of a military special operations unit.
4. (uncountable) The game of Chinese whispers.
6. (informal) A person who is adept at making deals or getting results, especially one who uses questionable methods.
   • 1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:

     Francis Urquhart: I think Lord Billsborough is starting to lose touch a bit.
     Tim Stamper: Shame. Used to be a hell of an operator in his day.

7. (mathematics) A function or other mapping that carries variables defined on a domain into another variable or set of variables in a defined range.
8. (computing) The administrator of a channel or network on IRC.
9. (computing) A symbol that represents a construct in a programming language and differs from a normal function in its syntax.
10. (linguistics) A kind of expression that enters into an a-bar movement dependency and is said to bind a variable.

    In the sentence "What did Bill say he wants to buy?", "what" is an operator, binding a phonetically empty variable.

11. (transport) A bus driver.
12. (slang) A thief or charlatan.
    • 1709 January 11, Colley Cibber, “The Rival Fools: ”, in Mr. Cibber's Plays, volume II, London: B. Lintot , published 1721, page 104:

      Sir Ol. Sirrah! I got many a round Sum by it, when my Father wou'd not give me a Groat—Then, Sir, I was in with all the Top Gameſters, and when there was a fat Squire to be fleec'd; I had my Office among them too, and tho' I ſay it, was one of the neateſt Operators about Town.

    • 2016, C. T. Collier, Planted, Scottsdale, A.Z.: Asdee Press, →ISBN, page 301:

      Hank was saying, "Lyssa showed me the screenshots of Nate's accounts, so we know he's helping himself to Nate's money every month. The guy's a real operator."

13. (slang) A major criminal.
    • 1998, Irvine Welsh, Filth, New York, N.Y., London: W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 140:

      He started bleating to me this morning aboot being stretched on this hippy stalk. A fuckin waste of time. Big operators flooding the city with smack and three-quarters of the cunts we bang up are daft schemies or students with a wee bit of hash or a few pills for their pals.

    • 2000 May 14, John Sweeney, “Cocky”, in The Observer‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-06:

      The second thing is that smart operators like Cocky are only in it for the (huge amounts of) money.

14. (slang, dated) Someone who is successful at pursuing women; a player.
    • 1974, Earl Wilson, Show Business Laid Bare, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 188:

      I give credit to men who are great operators, as we once called them, with the girls. Once I was interviewing one of the most beautiful girls in the world in her suite at the Hotel Plaza. While she was busily denying to me that there was anything serious in her relationship with Warren Beatty, who should be barging into the next room of the suite with a lot of clothes being removed from another suite, but Warren Beatty?

    • 1988 [1977], Luciano De Crescenzo, translated by Avril Bardoni, Thus Spake Bellavista: Naples, Love, and Liberty, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, →ISBN, page 101:

      "Of course you're right, but the Baron is unfortunately a bit of an operator, if you know what I mean. He likes the ladies," said Salvatore with a wicked grin. "So he never gets in until two, sometimes even three in the morning, and that's because he goes dancing at the Mela; he's quite a playboy."

    • 1996, George P. Pelecanos, The Big Blowdown, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 298:

      Anyway, there's gonna be plenty of girls. Plenty of girls for an operator like you.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• operator theory

Related terms

Translations

References

• Jonathon Green (2024) “operator n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Further reading

• operator on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• aeroport, aëroport, poor rate

Latin

Etymology

operor +‎ -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /o.peˈraː.tor/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /o.peˈra.tor/,

Noun

operātor m (genitive operātōris); third declension

1. worker, operator

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Descendants

Verb

operātor

1. second/third-person singular future active imperative of operor

References

• “operator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• operator in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• operator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.F

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

• Ultimately from Latin operātor (“worker”), probably through English operator.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oːpɛɾɑːˈtoːɾ/

Noun

operator ?

1. surgeon

This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

operator

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Borrowed from French opérateur, from Latin operātor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.pɛˈra.tɔr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atɔr
• Syllabification: o‧pe‧ra‧tor

Noun

operator m pers (female equivalent operatorka)

1. machinist, operator
2. (medicine) surgeon

   Synonym: chirurg

3. (cinematography) cameraman, cinematographer
4. (telecommunications) operator (company providing operator services)

Declension

Noun

operator m inan

1. (mathematics) operator
2. (linguistics) operator

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• operator in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• operator in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French opérateur or Latin operator. Equivalent to opera +‎ -tor.

Adjective

operator m or n (feminine singular operatoare, masculine plural operatori, feminine and neuter plural operatoare)

1. operating

Declension

Noun

operator m (plural operatori)

1. worker, operator

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /opěraːtor/
• Hyphenation: o‧pe‧ra‧tor

Noun

opèrātor m (Cyrillic spelling опѐра̄тор)

1. (mathematics) operator

Declension

Swedish

Noun

operator c

1. (mathematics, computing) an operator

Declension