Nearby Words

Carmen

[kahr-muhn; Sp. kahr-men] Origin

Car·men

[kahr-muhn; Sp. kahr-men]
noun
2.
a male or female given name: from a Latin word meaning “song.”
Dictionary.com Unabridged

Car·men

[kahr-muhn; Fr. kar-men]
noun
an opera (1875) by Georges Bizet.

car·man

[kahr-muhn]
noun, plural -men.
one of the crew of a streetcar or the like, as the motorman.

Origin:
1570–80, in sense “person driving a cart”; car1 + -man
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

Carmen
Fr. opera by Georges Bizet, premiered in Paris, March 3, 1875. As a proper name, it can represent (esp. in It. and Sp.) a dim. of Carmel/Carmelo or L. carmen "song, poem, incantation" (see charm).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

Carmen definition


One of the most popular of operas, composed by Georges Bizet, and first produced in the late nineteenth century. The title character is known for manipulating men. One of her victims, a Spanish soldier, arranges for her to escape from jail, but she later abandons him for a bullfighter, and he stabs her. The pieces “Habanera” and “Toreador Song” are well-known excerpts from Carmen.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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