Dictionary.com Thesaurus.com

operatory

American

[op-er-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈɒp ər əˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

a room or other area with special equipment and facilities, as for dental surgery, scientific experiments, or the like.

adjective

operative.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

operatories

plural

Etymology

Origin of operatory

1645–55; operate + -ory ¹, -ory ²; compare Late Latin operātōrius working, acting

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.