opus

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin opus (“work, labour, exertion; an artistic or literary work”),^[2][3][4][5] plural opera.^[2][3] The Latin noun, the source of Italian opera, French œuvre and Spanish obra,^[3] comes from Proto-Italic *opes- (“work”) and Proto-Indo-European *op- (“to work, produce in abundance”);^[3] the OED notes that a Sanskrit word for work is from the same Indo-European base.^[2][6] Klein relates it to ops (“strength, power, wealth”) and lists as cognates Old High German uoben (“to practise”), German üben (“to exercise, practise”), Dutch oefenen and Old English efnan (“to perform”).^[5] The OED notes that Latin opus was used from the late 15th century, especially in Italy, for a musical composition, and that numbering a composer's sets of pieces in order of publication became systematic in the early 17th century, particularly in Venice;^[2] French has opus in this sense from 1832.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A book or other written work, especially a large or important one: 1808, in a letter of Robert Southey's.^[2][7] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1809.^[4][3] Hoad notes that the word was first used in magnum opus or opus magnum, great work,^[8] which Barnhart finds in Swift's A Tale of a Tub (1704).^[4]

Semantic evolution

The musical sense, a composition or set of compositions numbered in a catalogue of a composer's works, is recorded in English from about 1840,^[2] and since 1895 the word has been used of a work in any of the arts, or of a production or performance in general.^[2] A rare verb, to give a work an opus number, is recorded from 1900.^[2][9] Boswell called his life of Johnson his magnum opus in 1791.^[4] Opus Dei, the work of God, is the name of a Catholic organization founded in Spain in 1928.^[3]

Timeline

• 1704 – opus magnum, great work, in Swift.^[4]
• 1808 – a literary work, especially a large or important one.^[2][7] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1809.^[4][3]
• c. 1840 – a musical composition, numbered among a composer's works.^[2]
• 1895 – a work in any of the arts.^[2]
• 1900 – verb, to assign an opus number to.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A musical composition or set of compositions, numbered among a composer's works in order of composition or publication; abbreviated op.: Her opus 3 is a set of string quartets.^[7][6][2]
2. A work of art or literature, especially a large or important one.^[6][2][9]
3. In combination, a kind of embroidery or other work, as in opus anglicanum.^[7]

Verb

1. (rare) To include and number among a composer's works.^[2][9]

Word family

• opuscule

Related words

• magnum opus
• opera
• operate
• operetta
• operose
• opulent
• oeuvre
• inure

Usage notes

The plural is opuses or, following Latin, opera;^[7][6][9] Etymonline notes that opera is seldom used as a plural.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press