Operation

From Latin operÄtiÅ, from the verb operor ("I work"), from opus, operis ("work").

Full definition of operation

(plural operations)

The method by which a device performs its function.It is dangerous to look at the beam of a laser while it is in operation.
The method or practice by which actions are done.
The act or process of operating; agency; the exertion of power, physical, mechanical, or moral.

John LockeThe pain and sickness caused by manna are the effects of its operation on the stomach.
DrydenSpeculative painting, without the assistance of manual operation, can never attain to perfection.

A planned undertaking.The police ran an operation to get vagrants off the streets.The Katrina relief operation was considered botched.
A business or organization.We run our operation from a storefront.They run a multinational produce-supply operation.
(medicine) a surgical procedure.She had an operation to remove her appendix.
(mathematics) a procedure for generating a value from one or more other values (the operands).
(military) a military campaign (e.g. Operation Desert Storm)
(obsolete) Effect produced; influence.