operor

Operor is a Latin deponent verb meaning to work, to operate, or to be active; it can also convey the sense of exerting oneself or performing a task. As a deponent, its forms are passive in appearance but active in meaning. It belongs to the first conjugation, with principal parts operor, operari, operatus sum.

In the present system, the forms resemble a passive paradigm: present indicatives such as I work (operor), you work (operaris), he works (operatur), we work (operamur), you all work (operamini), they work (operantur). The imperfect is formed with -bar endings: operabar, operabaris, operabatur, operabamur, operabamini, operabantur. The future appears as operabor, operaberis, operabitur, operabimur, operabimini, operabuntur. The perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect use the passive-looking participle with sum forms: operatus sum, operatus es, operatus est, operati sumus, operati estis, operati sunt; operatus eram, eras, erat, eramus, eratis, erant; operatus ero, eris, erit, erimus, eritis, erunt.

Usage notes: operor covers literal work or labor and figurative exertion or performance of a task. Because it is deponent, its participles and compound tenses function with active meaning, even though the morphology is passive. It is often contrasted with non-deponent synonyms such as laborare or operari more directly denotes working or operating in a given context.

Derivative forms include opera (works), operatio (operation), operarius (worker), and related terms in the Latin lexicon. See also opus, opera as nouns referring to works, and operatio as the act of performing a task.