postoperative
/ˌpəʊsˈtɔːpəɹətɪv/poh-STAW-puh-ruh-tiv
/ˌpoʊsˈtɔpəɹətɪv/poh-STAW-puh-ruh-tiv
Meaningafter the operation
Common meaning: happening after surgery
- postafter, later
- operwork, a piece of workLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1267 · scan
- ativeadjective ending: tending to
‘after, later’ + ‘work, a piece of work’ → postoperative
Journey through time
- Latinopus, operis‘work, a piece of work’
- Englishpostoperative‘happening after surgery’ · today
post- also in: postpartumpostoperatively
oper also in: operainoperativenonoperationalpostoperatively
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin opus ‘work, a piece of work’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry opus, p. 1267 · dictionary scan
Roots
- opus, operis Latin “work, a piece of work”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app