Etymology

inoperative

I1N1O1P3E1R1A1T1I1V4E1

Today it means: Not working or functioning; either idle or broken. Full definition →

English operative ← Middle English in- ← Latin in-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Middle Englishin-
  6. Englishin-
  7. Englishoperative
  8. English todayinoperative

From in- + operative.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.