interoperate

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verb

To work reliably with another system.

“It took weeks to get the two email systems to interoperate.”

OriginEnglish operate ← Latin operātus ← Proto-Italic *opos →
UncommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

verbinteroperate (third-person singular simple present interoperates, present participle interoperating, simple past and past participle interoperated)

present singular third person interoperates · participle present interoperating · participle past interoperated · past interoperated

  1. intransitivecomputingTo work reliably with another system.

    It took weeks to get the two email systems to interoperate.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁n̥tér
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥ter
  4. Latininter
  5. Latininter-
  6. Englishinter-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₃ep-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₃épos
  9. Proto-Italic*opos
  10. Latinopus
  11. Latinopera
  12. Latinoperātus
  13. Englishoperate
  14. Englishinteroperate

From inter- (“between, mutual”) + operate (“work”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Russian функционировать совме́стно
  • функционировать совме́стно (funkcionirovatʹ sovméstno)to work reliably with another system
Cite this entry
APA

interoperate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interoperate

MLA

“interoperate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interoperate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “interoperate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interoperate.

Source: interoperate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.