One way to hold this word: a thing you cannot work on or work with. Put a hand, a tool or a knife to it and nothing can be done — the machine will not run, and the knife cannot go in. Both uses report the same closed door, one in a workshop and one in an operating room.
可以想成一樣「動不了工」的東西。手伸過去、工具拿起來，卻什麼也做不了：機器轉不動，刀也下不去。兩個用法其實是同一扇關上的門，一扇在工廠裡，一扇在手術房裡。
From the word’s history
From in- + operable, where operable goes back to Latin operabilis, from the idea of work. Both English senses sit on that one root: to operate a machine and to operate on a patient are the same word doing work on something.
拆開來是 in-（不）加 operable，而 operable 上溯到拉丁文 operābilis，字根講的是「工作」。英文的 operate 同時用在「操作機器」和「開刀」，所以加上 in- 之後，兩個意思自然落在同一個根上：無法在上面動工。
Wiktionary, "inoperable"
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