magnum opus

Origin

noun

a great work, especially the chief work of a writer or artist: Proust's magnum opus is Remembrance of Things Past.

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Origin:
1785–95; < Latin

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

magnum opus

—n
	a great work of art or literature, esp the greatest single work of an artist

[Latin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

magnum opus

"masterpiece," from L., lit. "great work" (see magnum + opus).

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

magnum opus [(mag-nuhm oh-puhs)]

The most important work in a person's career, especially in literature, art, or scholarship: “Moby Dick was Melville's magnum opus.” From Latin, meaning “great work.”

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"Boswell, when he speaks of his Life of Johnson, calls it my magnum opus, but it may more properly be called his opera, for it is truly a composition founded on a true story, in which there is a hero with a number of subordinate characters, and an alternate succession of recitative and airs of various tone and effect, all however in delightful animation."

-James Boswell