Operose comes from the Latin operosus (meaning "laborious," "industrious," or "painstaking"). That word combines the noun "oper-," "opus," which means "work," with "-osus," the Latin equivalent of the English "-ose" and "-ous" suffixes, meaning "full of" or "abounding in." In its earliest uses, beginning in the mid-1500s, the word was used to describe people who are industrious or painstaking in their efforts. Within a little over 100 years, however, the word was being applied as it more commonly is today: to describe tasks and undertakings requiring much time and effort.
