manoeuvre
pronunciation
How to pronounce manoeuvre in British English:
UK [məˈnuːvə(r)]
How to pronounce manoeuvre in American English:
US [məˈnuːvər]
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- Noun:
- a plan for attaining a particular goal
- a military training exercise
- a deliberate coordinated movement requiring dexterity and skill
- a move made to gain a tactical end
- an action aimed at evading an opponent
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- Verb:
- act in order to achieve a certain goal
- direct the course; determine the direction of travelling
- perform a movement in military or naval tactics in order to secure an advantage in attack or defense
Word Origin
- manoeuvre
- manoeuvre: [18] Essentially manoeuvre and manure [14] are the same word. Both go back ultimately to a Latin expression denoting ‘manual labour’. This was manū operārī, literally ‘work with the hand’. It was lexicalized in medieval Latin as the verb manuoperāre, and this passed into Old French as manovrer. Middle English took it over via Anglo-Norman mainoverer as maynoyre or manour, which at first was used for ‘administer land’, and more specifically ‘cultivate land’.Not until the mid 16th century did the noun manure, denoting ‘dung spread in cultivating the land’, emerge. Meanwhile Old French manovrer developed into modern French manoeuvrer, which English borrowed in the 18th century.=> manual, manure, operate
- manoeuvre
- also manoeuver, alternative spelling of maneuver. Also see oe; -re. Related: manoeuvres; manoeuvred; manoeuvring.