magnoperate
Syllables: mag·no·per·ate/mæɡˈnɒpəɹeɪt/US/mæɡˈnɑpəɹeɪt/
magnoperate verb: to magnify the greatness of (someone or something); to exalt.
Verb (1)
magnoperate (third-person singular simple present magnoperates, present participle magnoperating, simple past and past participle magnoperated)
- To magnify the greatness of (someone or something); to exalt.
- [A]fter-ages may rightly admire what noble Mecœnas it was that ſo inchayned the aſpiring wits of this vnderſtanding age to his only cenſure, which will not a little magnoperate the ſplendor of your well knowne Honour, to theſe ſucceeding times.1610, Arthur Hopton, “To the Right Honovrable, Robert Earle of Salisbvry, [...]”, in Bacvlvm Geodæticvm, sive Viaticvm. Or The Geodeticall Staffe, […], London: […] Nicholas Okes for Simon Waterson...
- To act grandly.
- Meanwhile you cannot help liking his [Herbert Beerbohm Tree's] Antony—which, of course, is quite the right frame of mind. There is something large and liberal and genial in the man; you are made to feel that, in [Lord] Byron's phrase, he is used to "magnoperating."1906 December 28, “His Majesty’s Theatre. ‘Antony and Cleopatra.’ [theatre review]”, in The Times, number 38,215, London: George Edward Wright, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3, column 6
- At the ris of an anti-climax I will add that another mark of [Edward] Elgar's greatness is that he can do little things and do them well. He has "magnoperated" with the best, but like the other masters he has known how to unbend, and some of his music has become popular in the best sense. It is not...1921 March, George Sampson, “Sir Edward Elgar”, in The Bookman, volume LIX, number 354, London: Hodder and Stoughton […], →OCLC, page 220, column 2
Verb (2)
magnoperate (third-person singular simple present magnoperates, present participle magnoperating, simple past and past participle magnoperated)
- To work on one's magnum opus (“great or important work of art, literature, or music, a masterpiece; best, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an artist or author, representing their major life effort”).
- Your dwarf of a letter came yesterday. That is right;—keep to your 'magnum opus'—magnoperate away.1821 June 22, Lord Byron, “Letter CCCCXXXV. To Mr. [Thomas] Moore.”, in Thomas Moore, editor, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life, […], volume II, London: John Murray, […]...
- He [David Wark Griffith] magnoperates (to use a word of Byron's), he plans in the grand style, he lives for ideas; but he is perfectly modest about it. [Quoting The Times.]1922 June 10, “Dickens and Griffith of the Movies”, in The Literary Digest, volume LXXIII, number 11 (number 1677 overall), New York, N.Y.: Funk & Wagnalls Company, […], →OCLC, pages 31–32, column 2
Examples of magnoperate in a sentence
- He has "magnoperated" with the best, but like the other masters he has known how to unbend, and some of his music has become popular in the best sense.1921 March, George Sampson, “Sir Edward Elgar”, in The Bookman, volume LIX, number 354, London: Hodder and Stoughton […], →OCLC, page 220...
- Cochran magnoperated last night at the Palace, Manchester, and yesterday afternoon the dramatic critic of this paper minoperated at a horse-show in a field adjacent to Manchester.1934 September 2, James Agate, “Idle Thoughts of an Idle Critic”, in More First Nights, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., published 1937...
- […] Michael Redgrave and Peggy Ashcroft retired to Stratford-on-Avon, where they magnoperated in “The Merchant of Venice," "Antony and Cleopatra" and "King Lear"; […]1953, Louis Kronenberger, editor, The Best Plays of 1952–1953 (The Burns Mantle Yearbook), New York, N.Y.; Toronto, Ont.: Dodd, Mead &...
Forms of magnoperate
| third-person singular present | magnoperates |
|---|---|
| present participle | magnoperating |
| past participle | magnoperated |
| past | magnoperated |
Origin of magnoperate
PIE word *méǵh₂s From Latin magnopere (“exceedingly, greatly; earnestly, vehemently”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix), modelled after operate, further from the univerbation of magnō (ablative neuter singular of magnus (“big, large; (figuratively) great, important”)) + opere (ablative singular of opus (“labour, toil, accomplishment, work; work (of art, literature, etc.)”)), literally “with great zeal, effort, work done”, ultimately from the roots of Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”)) and Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- (“to toil, work; to make; ability; force”)).
From magnum opus + -ate (verb-forming suffix), in this sense coined by the English poet Lord Byron (1788–1824): see the 1821 quotation, further from Latin magnum opus, from magnum (nominative neuter singular of magnus (“big, large; (figuratively) great, important”)) + opus (“accomplishment, work; work (of art, literature, etc.)”); see further at etymology 1.
Words formed from magnoperate
- magnoperation
- magnoperator
- magnoperous
Questions about magnoperate
- What does magnoperate mean?
- Magnoperate means to magnify the greatness of (someone or something); to exalt.
- How do you use magnoperate in a sentence?
- He has "magnoperated" with the best, but like the other masters he has known how to unbend, and some of his music has become popular in the best sense.
- What part of speech is magnoperate?
- Magnoperate is a verb.
- How do you pronounce magnoperate?
- Magnoperate is pronounced /mæɡˈnɒpəɹeɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of magnoperate?
- The past tense of magnoperate is magnoperated.
Words near magnoperate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: magnoperate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-magnoperate.wav.
Cite this entry: “magnoperate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/magnoperate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.