opera

Forms

opera f (plural opere)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin opera (“work, effort; a day's work; day labourer”), originally the plural of the neuter opus (“work”), taken as a feminine singular as early as Plautus.^[2][3][4][1] DELI explains the wide range of the Italian word by the wide use of the Latin one, from the work of the fields to the work of the artist, and notes that the senses “a day's work” and “day labourer” were already Latin, in Varro and Columella.^[2]

The word lives on in most Romance languages, though not in Romanian: French œuvre, Occitan obra, Catalan obra, Spanish obra (with huebra “a day's work”) and Portuguese obra.^[3][5][6] Popular forms such as Lombard ovra and Friulian vore show that the word also lived on in the north.^[6][5] The older forms Old Italian opra, with the vowel after the stress lost, and Old Italian ovra, with /p/ voiced through the northern dialects, survive in poetry.^[7][8] Meyer-Lübke took that form from Occitan or Catalan.^[5]

The Latin noun belongs with opēs (“means, resources”), and Nocentini compares words for work and for a sacrificial act in Sanskrit, which point to an original religious sense, still seen in operor (“to work; to perform a sacrifice”).^[3] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *op- (“to work, produce in abundance”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest form is opra in Leonardo del Guallacca, in the 13th century, and opera is in Giordano da Pisa in 1304, for an activity carried out with a definite purpose.^[2] At Pistoia, in the first half of the 13th century, the word already named a day labourer, and Bono Giamboni uses it before 1292 for a morally significant human act.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word for the result of an action (Boccaccio, 1348–1353), for work in general (opra before 1348 in Francesco da Barberino, opera in the Peruzzi account books, 1308–1380), for the product of manual work (about 1304) and for a building (opra before 1321 in Dante, opera in 1560).^[2] About 1300 it also named the body that saw to the building and upkeep of a church, as in Opera del Duomo.^[2] Giambattista Vico explained that in its native meaning opera is “la fatiga d'un giorno d'un contadino” (a peasant's labour for one day).^[2] Later senses are a charitable institution (1667, Daniello Bartoli) and intellectual work (1862, Carlo Cattaneo).^[2]

The musical sense grew from “(theatrical) work” in 17th-century Venice: the name was first given officially to Pier Francesco Cavalli's Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo in 1639.^[2][10] With Italian opera it reached Paris about 1646 and passed into French (opéra, 1646), German (Opera, 1681) and English (1640s).^[6][10][9] DELI reports the view that its 19th-century spread in Italy owed something to French.^[2] From about 1808 the word also named the opera house, and in 1846 andare all'opera meant to go to the theatre.^[2]

Timeline

• First half of the 13th century – At Pistoia the word names a day labourer.^[2]
• 13th century – Leonardo del Guallacca uses opra.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a moral act.^[2][10]
• About 1300 – It names the board of works of a church.^[2]
• 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses opera.^[2]
• 1639 – Cavalli's Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo is called an opera.^[2][10]
• 1640s – English opera is first recorded.^[9][10]
• 1646 – French opéra is recorded.^[10]
• 1667 – Daniello Bartoli uses it for a charitable institution.^[2]
• 1681 – German Opera is recorded.^[10]
• 1808–1825 – Francesco Pananti uses it for the opera house.^[2][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Any activity that produces an effect or is aimed at an end, also of natural agents: L'opera del vento ha scolpito queste rocce.^[11][12][7]
2. Work, labour, the services of a person: Si è avvalso dell'opera di un bravo falegname.^[11][8][12]
3. (regional) A day's work in the fields; in the plural, day labourers.^[11][6]
4. A deed, especially as judged morally, as in opere di carità, (theology) works, the free acts of the will.^[11][12]
5. The result or effect of an action: Il disastro è opera dell'incuria.^[8][12][7]
6. A construction or structure, as in opere pubbliche (public works).^[8][7][11]
7. A work of art, literature or thought; a book: Questa è l'opera più famosa del pittore.^[7][11][8]
8. (music) An opera, a stage work set to music; also the opera house: Sabato sera andremo all'opera.^{[7][11][1][2]}
9. A charitable institution, as in opera pia; the board that administers the building and upkeep of a church, as in Opera del Duomo.^[7][11][2]

Word family

• operaio
• operare
• operetta
• operista
• operistico
• operoso
• operosità
• operettista
• manodopera
• capolavoro

Related words

• uopo
• opuscolo
• Latin opus
• French œuvre

Usage notes

Opera omnia (all the works) is a Latin plural, but it is now treated as a singular.^[2] The GDLI also records the invariable Opéra, the name of the main opera house in Paris.^[13] A proverb on beginnings is chi ben comincia è a metà dell'opera (well begun is half done).^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2661
7. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
11. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca