manoeuvre

The story

1. Frankish · derived from*handwerc“hand-work”
2. Medieval Latin · derived frommanopera
3. Old French · derived frommanovre“handwork, manual labour”
4. Middle French · derived frommanœuvre“manipulation, manoeuvre”
5. English todaymanoeuvre

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.

Words from the same roots