From Latin 'manus' (hand) + 'operari' (to work) — literally 'hand-work,' connecting manual skill to strategy.
A movement or series of moves requiring skill and care; a carefully planned scheme or action; a military exercise or tactical movement; to move skillfully or carefully.
From French 'manœuvre' (manual work, a tactical movement), from Medieval Latin 'manuopera' (work done by hand), from Latin 'manus' (hand) + 'operārī' (to work), from Proto-Indo-European *man- (hand) + *h₃ep- (to work, to produce). The word literally means 'hand-work' — skilled labor performed with the hands. The military sense developed in 18th-century French, where tactical movements required
The word 'maneuver' contains TWO Latin roots that both mean 'to do work' — 'manus' (hand, implying manual labor) and 'operārī' (to work, from 'opus,' a work). It is etymologically 'hand-work work' — a double emphasis on skilled labor that reflects the word's origin in the physical crafts before it was adopted by generals and politicians.
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