recitative

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian recitativo,^[2][3][4][5] the Italian adjective meaning “to be recited or declaimed” and its noun, a form the OED explains as short for cantar recitativo (“recitative song”).^[2] The adjective is probably formed from recitare (“to recite”) and -ativo,^[2] while Etymonline and Klein derive it from the participle recitato.^[3][6] The Italian verb is from Latin recitō (“to read out, read aloud”),^[5][7][3] formed from re- (“back, again”) and citō (“to summon”).^[3] The Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch suggests that the Italian adjective came from French récitatif, which the OED finds unlikely, since Italian led in musical terms.^[2] The French noun, recorded from 1690, is itself from Italian.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun and the adjective appear together in 1654, in R. Flecknoe's Ariadne deserted by Theseus: its preface speaks of “a particular way of Recitative, different from the Italian, as our language is different”.^[2][4] Before that, Jonson's masque Lovers Made Men (before 1637) was described as sung “after the Italian manner” Stylo recitativo,^[2] and Etymonline dates the Italian form in English to the 1610s and the adjective to the 1640s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word named a style of delivery, between singing and ordinary speech, and soon the words written for it (1659), then in the 18th century the musical passages themselves (1720).^[2] The English word stood beside its Italian form, recitativo, recorded from 1662.^[2][4] Webster (1828) described it as imitating the inflections, accent and emphasis of natural speech.^[8] From 1722 to 1791 it could also mean the tone or rhythm typical of a language,^[2] and by 1873 it was used for a performance in this style and in extended senses.^[2] A verb, to deliver in recitative, is recorded from 1770, and is now rare.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1637 – Stylo recitativo, in Jonson.^[2]
• 1654 – noun, a style of musical declamation between singing and speech; adjective, in that style.^[2][4]
• 1659 – words intended to be delivered in recitative.^[2]
• 1662 – the Italian form recitativo in English.^[2][4]
• 1720 – a musical part or passage delivered in recitative.^[2]
• 1722 – the tone or rhythm typical of a language (obsolete by 1791).^[2]
• 1770 – verb, to deliver in recitative.^[2]
• 1873 – a performance in recitative.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A style of vocal declamation between singing and ordinary speech, used in the dialogue and narrative of an opera or oratorio.^{[2][9][4][10]}
2. A passage or part delivered in this style: The tenor's recitative carries the plot forward.^[2][4][9]
3. A performance in this style.^[2][9][4]
4. A passage of instrumental music in the same manner.^[4]

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or delivered in recitative.^[2][4][9]

Verb

1. (rare) To deliver a passage in recitative, or to declaim in it.^[2][9]

Related words

• recite
• recital
• recitation
• cite
• recitativo

Usage notes

A separate adjective recitative, “of the nature of a recital”, is formed from recite and -ative, recorded in the OED from 1726, and in Dictionary.com only from 1855–60; it is stressed on the first or second syllable, not the last.^[2][11][10] The stress of the musical word also varied: Johnson (1755) put it on the first syllable and Webster (1828) on the second.^[2]

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 q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Webster, Noah (1828), An American Dictionary of the English Language, New York: S. Converse
9. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House