opera Italian · revision 38194

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=13th century, Leonardo del Guallacca|origins=la opus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɔ.pe.ra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''opera''' ''f'' (plural opere)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|opera|t=work, effort; a day's work; day labourer]], originally the plural of the neuter [[m|la|opus|t=work]], taken as a feminine singular as early as Plautus.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary) 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.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The word lives on in most Romance languages, though not in Romanian: [[fr|œuvre]], [[oc|obra]], [[ca|obra]], [[es|obra]] (with [[m|es|huebra]] “a day's work”) and [[pt|obra]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2661) Popular forms such as [[lmo|ovra]] and [[fur|vore]] show that the word also lived on in the north.^(DEI|2661)^(REW 1935) The older forms [[roa-oit|opra]], with the vowel after the stress lost, and [[roa-oit|ovra]], with /p/ voiced through the northern dialects, survive in poetry.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Meyer-Lübke took that form from Occitan or Catalan.^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin noun belongs with [[m|la|ops|alt=opēs|t=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 [[m|la|operor|t=to work; to perform a sacrifice]].^(Nocentini 2010) Etymonline traces it to [[ine-pro|*op-|t=to work, produce in abundance]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(DELI 1999) 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.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==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).^(DELI 1999) About 1300 it also named the body that saw to the building and upkeep of a church, as in ''Opera del Duomo''.^(DELI 1999) 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).^(DELI 1999) Later senses are a charitable institution (1667, Daniello Bartoli) and intellectual work (1862, Carlo Cattaneo).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ 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.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) With Italian opera it reached Paris about 1646 and passed into French (''opéra'', 1646), German (''Opera'', 1681) and English (1640s).^(DEI|2661)^(DIFIT)^(Etymonline) DELI reports the view that its 19th-century spread in Italy owed something to French.^(DELI 1999) From about 1808 the word also named the opera house, and in 1846 ''andare all'opera'' meant to go to the theatre.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 13th century – At Pistoia the word names a day labourer.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – Leonardo del Guallacca uses ''opra''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a moral act.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * About 1300 – It names the board of works of a church.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses ''opera''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1639 – Cavalli's ''Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo'' is called an ''opera''.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1640s – English ''opera'' is first recorded.^(Etymonline)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1646 – French ''opéra'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1667 – Daniello Bartoli uses it for a charitable institution.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1681 – German ''Opera'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1808–1825 – Francesco Pananti uses it for the opera house.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any activity that produces an effect or is aimed at an end, also of natural agents: ''L'opera del vento ha scolpito queste rocce.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Work, labour, the services of a person: ''Si è avvalso dell'opera di un bravo falegname.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(regional)'' A day's work in the fields; in the plural, day labourers.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|2661)

+ # A deed, especially as judged morally, as in ''opere di carità'', ''(theology)'' [[m|en|good works|alt=works]], the free acts of the will.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The result or effect of an action: ''Il disastro è opera dell'incuria.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A construction or structure, as in ''opere pubbliche'' (public works).^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A work of art, literature or thought; a book: ''Questa è l'opera più famosa del pittore.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(music)'' An [[m|en|opera]], a stage work set to music; also the opera house: ''Sabato sera andremo all'opera.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)

+ # A charitable institution, as in ''opera pia''; the board that administers the building and upkeep of a church, as in ''Opera del Duomo''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[operaio]]

+ * [[operare]]

+ * [[operetta]]

+ * [[operista]]

+ * [[operistico]]

+ * [[operoso]]

+ * [[operosità]]

+ * [[operettista]]

+ * [[manodopera]]

+ * [[capolavoro]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[uopo]]

+ * [[opuscolo]]

+ * [[la|opus]]

+ * [[fr|œuvre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Opera omnia'' (all the works) is a Latin plural, but it is now treated as a singular.^(DELI 1999) The GDLI also records the invariable ''Opéra'', the name of the main opera house in Paris.^(GDLI) A proverb on beginnings is ''chi ben comincia è a metà dell'opera'' (well begun is half done).^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}