overture

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English overture,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman overture and Middle French ouverture (“aperture, opening”),^[4] from Old French overture (“opening; proposal”), in the 12th century uverture.^[5][6][4] The OED forms the French word from ouvert (“open”), the source of overt, and the suffix -ure, perhaps after Latin apertūra (“opening”);^[4][7] Barnhart, the American Heritage Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Unabridged derive it from Vulgar Latin *ōpertūra, an alteration of the Latin word influenced by cooperiō (“to cover”).^[5][2][3][8] Apertūra is from aperiō (“to open, uncover”),^[6][2][5] which the American Heritage Dictionary traces to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *wer-.^[2] The OED compares Old Occitan ubertura and Catalan obertura.^[4] The word is a doublet of aperture.^[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

An aperture, a hole or an opening: c. 1400, in Pearl.^[4] Barnhart dates the word to 1249–50,^[5] and Etymonline to the mid-13th century, in the same sense.^[6] The Anglo-Norman word, recorded from 1121–35, meant an act of opening and an opening or hole, and also a proposal.^[10]

Semantic evolution

From the literal sense of an opening the word passed to opening a matter: in 1427 it was an approach or proposal made to open negotiations,^[4][5][6] the main sense today, usually in the plural.^[4][11] In Scotland from 1561 an overture was a proposal or bill laid before Parliament, and in 1576 it became a formal motion put to the General Assembly of the Church;^[4][12] Wright's dialect dictionary describes it as a current church term in Scotland.^[13] Other senses, a disclosure (1548–1655), a beginning (1595–1728), an opportunity (1610–1768) and an overthrow, perhaps by association with overturn, have died out.^[4][14][3] Trench (1859) noted that the literal sense of an aperture was no longer in use, and quoted an older writer on squirrels making an overture in their holes.^[15] The musical sense, an orchestral piece opening an opera or other long work, follows a French use of 1691;^[4] in English it is first recorded in 1667, in Davenant and Dryden's version of The Tempest, according to Barnhart,^[5] in the 1660s according to Etymonline,^[6] and in 1674, in Shadwell's version of the same play, according to the OED.^[4] It was extended figuratively from 1802 and to the opening of a poem from 1869.^[4] The verb, first used in 1655 for laying an overture before a church court, was formed from the noun.^[4][3]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – an aperture or hole (obsolete by 1891).^[4] Barnhart dates the word to 1249–50.^[5]
• 1427 – a proposal made to open negotiations.^[4][5]
• 1548 – a disclosure (obsolete by 1655).^[4]
• c. 1555 – an overthrow (obsolete by 1633).^[14]
• 1561 – in Scotland, a proposal laid before Parliament.^[4]
• 1576 – a formal motion to the General Assembly of a Presbyterian Church.^[4]
• 1610 – a favourable opportunity (obsolete by 1768).^[4]
• 1655 – verb, to present as an overture.^[4][3]
• 1667 – an orchestral introduction to an opera or play.^[5] The OED's first record is from 1674.^[4]
• 1869 – the opening part of a poem.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An orchestral piece played at the beginning of an opera, oratorio, play or other long work, often introducing its main themes.^[16][3][4]
2. An independent orchestral composition in one movement, a concert overture.^[16][17]
3. An introduction to something larger: The skirmish was only the overture to a long war.^[17][18][4]
4. An approach or proposal made to open negotiations or begin a relationship, usually in the plural: The rival firm made overtures about a merger.^[3][16][4]
5. In a Presbyterian church, a formal motion proposing legislation, sent up to the supreme court of the church.^[4][13]
6. (obsolete) An aperture or hole.^{[3][4][11][19]}
7. (obsolete, 1548–1655) A disclosure or revelation.^[3][4][19]
8. (obsolete, 1610–1768) An opportunity for action.^[3][4]
9. (obsolete) An overturning or overthrow.^[3][14]

Verb

1. To put forward as an overture or proposal, or to present an overture to someone.^[3][4]

Related words

• overt
• aperture
• aperient
• cover

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
15. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
16. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
17. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
18. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
19. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.