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opera

[op-er-uh, op-ruh]

Example Sentences Origin

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

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Opera is always a great word to know.

So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:

an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

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Example Sentences

At the border between opera and musical comedy, the barbed wire is obviously down.

We usually think of opera as a serious idiom that dramatizes the lives of illustrious characters.

But the comic opera has meanwhile crystallised doubts about the quality of his leadership.

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At the border between opera and musical comedy, the barbed wire is obviously down.

We usually think of opera as a serious idiom that dramatizes the lives of illustrious characters.

But the comic opera has meanwhile crystallised doubts about the quality of his leadership.

The story of her ascent rivals a modern-day soap opera.

Big band in the afternoon, and opera in the evening.

He was falling for a young opera singer and courting customs at that time would not permit a lady to enter a gentleman's bedroom.

Not that much difference in principle from stick-mounted opera.

In any case, you've landed yourself in a soap opera that you could have avoided by being more careful in the past.

The cinemas' problem is the opposite of that faced by art galleries, theatres and opera houses.

Among all the chaos, a famous opera singer leaned out his hotel window and sang.

Generally speaking, and across the three different genres-even in opera arias dating back some five hundred years-all of this.

She wore a miniskirt, fishnet stockings, opera gloves to her elbows.

Opera offers a few different choices for where to put your tabs.

Lanier's compositions include movie scores, works for opera and ballet, and a triple concerto.

At eight he would produce the gun when he wanted his sister to change the channel from a soap opera to a cartoon.

Today the complex includes an opera house, museums, and nymph fountains.

So he picked this brother, and he goes on to become a world famous opera singer, entrepreneur.

Participants will bat around ideas in an old restored opera house instead of an impersonal conference center.

Explores a recurrent theme in opera of singing's power over death.

The campaign rows, party intrigue and sniping could serve nicely as a plot for yet another antipodean soap opera.

But the book contained cyphers, and that does not seem to involve a soap opera with returning lovers, but something else.

Opera does, however, let you install plug-ins and import your bookmarks.

Fine for them, but tough on whichever minor soap opera actor they have displaced.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun Chiefly Music.

a plural of opus.

noun, plural o·pus·es or, especially for 1, 2, o·pe·ra

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

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To opera

Collins

World English Dictionary

opera¹ (ˈɒpərə, ˈɒprə)

—n
1.	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
2.	the branch of music or drama represented by such works
3.	the score, libretto, etc, of an opera
4.	a theatre where opera is performed

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

opera² (ˈɒpərə)

—n
	a plural of opus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

opera

"a drama sung," 1644, from It. opera, lit. "a work," from L. opera "work, effort" (L. plural regarded as fem. sing.), secondary (abstract) noun from operari "to work," from opus (gen. operis) "a work" (see opus). Defined in "Elson's Music Dictionary" as, "a form of musical

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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

1809, "a work, composition," esp. a musical one," from L. opus "a work, labor, exertion" (cf. It. opera, Fr. oeuvre, Sp. obra), from PIE base *op- (Gmc. *ob-) "to work, produce in abundance," originally of agriculture later extended to religious acts (cf. Skt. apas- "work, religious act;" Avestan hvapah-

"good deed;" O.H.G. uoben "to start work, to practice, to honor;" Ger. üben "to exercise, practice;" Du. oefenen, O.N. æfa, Dan. øve "to exercise, practice;" O.E. æfnan "to perform, work, do," afol "power"). The plural, seldom used, is opera.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

opera definition

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

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opera

op·er·a

o·pe·ra

o·pus

opera definition