opera

[op-er-uh, op-ruh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR opera ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an extended dramatic composition, in which all parts are sung to instrumental accompaniment, that usually includes arias, choruses, and recitatives, and that sometimes includes ballet.Compare comic opera, grand opera.

the form or branch of musical and dramatic art represented by such compositions.

the score or the words of such a composition.

a performance of one: to go to the opera.

(sometimes initial capital letter) an opera house or resident company: the Paris Opera.

Origin of opera

1635–45; < Italian: work, opera < Latin, plural of opus service, work, a work, opus

opera

[oh-per-uh, op-er-uh]

noun Chiefly Music.

a plural of opus.

opus

[oh-puh s]

noun, plural o·pus·es or especially for 1, 2, o·pe·ra [oh-per-uh, op-er-uh] /ˈoʊ pər ə, ˈɒp ər ə/.

a musical composition.

one of the compositions of a composer, usually numbered according to the order of publication.

a literary work or composition, as a book: Have you read her latest opus? Abbreviation: op.

Origin of opus

1695–1705; < Latin: work, labor, a work

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for opera

oeuvre, product, creation, production, music, piece, composition

Examples from the Web for opera

Contemporary Examples of opera

It has always featured the very best voices and employed the most sophisticated stagecraft of any opera house.
Inside the Metropolitan Opera’s Insane Year
Shawn E. Milnes
November 23, 2014
Her story, and that of her composer, so unlike those of any other opera, have a drama of all their own.
When Stalin Met Lady Macbeth
Brian Moynahan
November 9, 2014
The opera is a dark and passionate tale of adultery and greed.
When Stalin Met Lady Macbeth
Brian Moynahan
November 9, 2014
He had married, and had an affair, while he was writing Lady Macbeth, and the opera was alive with sexuality.
When Stalin Met Lady Macbeth
Brian Moynahan
November 9, 2014
The Met has the First Amendment right to present this opera, and people certainly have a similar right to attend.
Rudy Giuliani: Why I Protested ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’
Rudy Giuliani
October 20, 2014

Historical Examples of opera

It was the night you and the folks went to the opera with the Oldakers.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
(§ 11), likens Plautine drama to "an opera of the early schools."
The Dramatic Values in Plautus
Wilton Wallace Blancke
I gained nothing; the Opera gives me my best chance to see and be seen.
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
Sing by all means; but, if you must have immediate results, not in opera.
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
The opera was announced for June 11, but Faustina declared herself indisposed.
Handel
Edward J. Dent

British Dictionary definitions for opera

opera

noun

an extended dramatic work in which music constitutes a dominating feature, either consisting of separate recitatives, arias, and choruses, or having a continuous musical structure

the branch of music or drama represented by such works

the score, libretto, etc, of an opera

a theatre where opera is performed

Word Origin for opera

C17: via Italian from Latin: work, a work, plural of opus work

opera

noun

a plural of opus

opus

noun plural opuses or opera (ˈɒpərə)

an artistic composition, esp a musical work

(often capital) (usually followed by a number) a musical composition by a particular composer, generally catalogued in order of publicationBeethoven's opus 61 is his violin concerto

Abbreviation: op.

Word Origin for opus

C18: from Latin: a work; compare Sanskrit apas work

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for opera

"a drama sung" [Klein], 1640s, from Italian opera, literally "a work, labor, composition," from Latin opera "work, effort" (Latin plural regarded as feminine singular), secondary (abstract) noun from operari "to work," from opus (genitive operis) "a work" (see opus). Defined in "Elson's Music Dictionary" as, "a form of musical composition evolved shortly before 1600, by some enthusiastic Florentine amateurs who sought to bring back the Greek plays to the modern stage."

No good opera plot can be sensible. ... People do not sing when they are feeling sensible. [W.H. Auden, 1961]

As a branch of dramatic art, it is attested from 1759. First record of opera glass "small binoculars for use at the theater" is from 1738. Soap opera is first recorded 1939, as a disparaging reference to daytime radio dramas sponsored by soap manufacturers.

opus

"a work, composition," especially a musical one, 1809, from Latin opus "a work, labor, exertion" (source of Italian opera, French oeuvre, Spanish obra), from PIE root *op- (Germanic *ob-) "to work, produce in abundance," originally of agriculture later extended to religious acts (cf. Sanskrit apas- "work, religious act;" Avestan hvapah- "good deed;" Old High German uoben "to start work, to practice, to honor;" German üben "to exercise, practice;" Dutch oefenen, Old Norse æfa, Danish øve "to exercise, practice;" Old English æfnan "to perform, work, do," afol "power"). The plural, seldom used as such, is opera.

opera in Culture

opera

A musical drama that is totally or mostly sung. Aïda, Carmen, and Don Giovanni are some celebrated operas. A light, comic opera is often called an operetta.