operant

Etymology

From Middle English operant, from Latin operāns.^[1]

Adjective

operant (comparative more operant, superlative most operant)

1. That operates to produce an effect.

   thy most operant poison

   • 1955, Rex Stout, "When a Man Murders...", in Three Witnesses, October 1994 Bantam edition, →ISBN, page 117:

     I tell you frankly, if Paul Aubry is guilty I hope is convicted and punished; but if one of the others is guilty I hope he—or she—is punished, and if I knew anything operant to that end I certainly would not withhold it.

Noun

operant (plural operants)

1. An operative person or thing.
2. (psychology) Any of a class of behaviors that produce consequences by operating (i.e., acting) upon the environment.

See also

• Skinner box

References

Anagrams

• Paterno, Protean, pronate, protean, tropane

Verb

operant

1. gerund of operar

Verb

operant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of operō

Etymology

Borrowed from French opérant.

Adjective

operant m or n (feminine singular operantă, masculine plural operanți, feminine and neuter plural operante)

1. operant