operational

See also: operațional

English

Etymology

From operation +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɔpɜˈɹeɪʃənəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

operational (comparative more operational, superlative most operational)

1. Of or relating to operations, especially military operations.
   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. […] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

2. Functioning and ready for use.
   • 1977, George Lucas, Governor Tarkin, Star Wars:

     Princess Leia, before your execution, you will join me at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now.

   • 2022 December 14, “News in pictures: Class 87 soldiers on in Bulgaria”, in RAIL, number 972, page 26, photo caption:

     Despite somewhat faded paintwork, 87017 Iron Duke is clearly very much operational, as confirmed here on September 4.

3. Effective or operative.
4. Determined by means of practical measures.

Derived terms

• non-operational
• operational analysis
• operational calculus
• operational definition
• operational encirclement
• operational exhaustion
• operational fatigue
• operationalism
• operationalist
• operationalize
• operational research
• operational service period
• operational taxonomic unit
• pre-operational

 

Translations

of or relating to operations, especially military operations

• Armenian: գործառնական (hy) (gorcaṙnakan)
• Bulgarian: оперативен (bg) (operativen)
• Catalan: operatiu
• Finnish: operatiivinen
• German: Einsatz- (de), Operations- (de)
• Greek: ετοιμοπόλεμος (el) m (etoimopólemos), μάχιμος (el) m (máchimos)
• Indonesian: operasional (id)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: operasjonell

  Nynorsk: operasjonell

• Persian: عملیاتی (fa) ('amaliyâti)
• Romanian: operațional (ro) n
• Russian: операти́вный (ru) (operatívnyj)

functioning and ready for use

• Bulgarian: работещ (bg) (rabotešt), функциониращ (bg) (funkcionirašt)
• Catalan: operatiu
• Finnish: toimiva (fi), toimintakuntoinen, toimintakykyinen
• German: betriebsbereit (de), funktionsfähig (de), einsatzfähig
• Greek: λειτουργικός (el) m (leitourgikós)
• Hungarian: üzemképes (hu)
• Indonesian: operasional (id)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: operasjonell, operativ

  Nynorsk: operasjonell, operativ

• Polish: aktywny (pl)
• Russian: де́йствующий (ru) (déjstvujuščij)
• Spanish: operativo (es)

effective or operative

• Bulgarian: действащ (bg) (dejstvašt)
• Catalan: operatiu
• Finnish: toimiva (fi)
• Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍃𐍄𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (waurstweigs)
• Greek: λειτουργικός (el) m (leitourgikós)
• Indonesian: operasional (id)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: operasjonell

  Nynorsk: operasjonell

• Russian: де́йствующий (ru) (déjstvujuščij)

determined by means of practical measures

• Finnish: käytännöllinen (fi)
• French: opérationnel (fr)
• Italian: operazionale (it)
• Portuguese: operacional (pt)
• Spanish: operacional