Etymology: Probably an isolated borrowing < Anglo-Norman manovre (see manoeuvre n.²; compare isolated 16th-cent. occurrence of the ultimate cognate mainour n. in form manuvre ). However, the spelling maanovre could perhaps also represent a noun corresponding in form and sense to manure v. 3b (compare manure n. 2); compare post-classical Latin manura manual labour, tillage (1483 in a British source).

Etymology: < French manœuvre (1248 in Old French as manuevre in sense ‘manual labour’ (compare Old Occitan manevre (c1180)); in Middle French as maneuvre , later manœuvre , from 16th cent. in spec. sense ‘action of adjusting a ship's rigging’; 1694 in sense 1, 1690 in sense 2a in A. Furetière Dict. Universel, with a note that it is usually pejorative) < post-classical Latin manopera , manuopera manual labour as a feudal service (mid 9th cent., late 8th cent., respectively) < classical Latin manū , ablative singular of manus hand (see manus n.¹) + opera labour (see opera n.¹). For a possible earlier loan from the corresponding Anglo-Norman manovre see manoeuvre n.¹ For developments from the corresponding post-classical Latin verb manu operari see manure v. and manoeuvre v.Compare loans < French in other languages: Portuguese manobra (1451), Spanish maniobra (1734), Italian manovra (a1816); German Manöver (18th cent.). See also manoeuvre v. Occasionally as manœuvre, reflecting French orthographic practice. The spelling maneuver has been the preferred, although by no means the universally accepted, spelling in the United States at least since its appearance in Noah Webster's Amer. Spelling Bk. (1783). N.E.D. (1905) records also the pronunciation (măniū·vəɹ) /məˈnjuːvə(r)/; other dictionaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries differ widely in their treatment of this word, some giving only /məˈnuːvə/, others only /məˈnjuːvə/, and others still explicitly noting variation. /məˈnjuːvə/ is similarly recorded as an alternative pronunciation in British English in early editions of D. Jones Eng. Pronouncing Dict.

Etymology: Either < manoeuvre n.² or < French manœuvrer (from 17th cent. in maritime use (compare manoeuvre n.²), 1732 to execute strategic manoeuvres, 1752 in sense 3; from c1100 in Old French: for earlier forms and senses see manure v.).Compare loans < French in other languages: Spanish maniobrar (late 18th cent.), Italian manovrare (1803), Portuguese manobrar (1873); German manövrieren (18th cent.). See also manoeuvre n.² On spelling and pronunciation history see notes s.v. manoeuvre n.²