Etymology

preoperative

P3R1E1O1P3E1R1A1T1I1V4E1

Today it means: Prior to surgery. Full definition →

English operative ← Middle English pre- ← Latin prae-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*prai-
  6. Latinprae-
  7. Middle Englishpre-
  8. Englishpre-
  9. Englishoperative
  10. English todaypreoperative

From pre- + operative.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.