operan.1
/ˈɒp(ə)rə/, U.S. /ˈɑp(ə)rə/The earliest quotations in English illustrate opera as an Italian word.
1.
a. A dramatic musical work in which singing forms an essential part, chiefly consisting of recitatives, arias, and choruses, with orchestral accompaniment; a performance of such a work; a libretto or musical score for such a work. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > opera > [noun]
opera1648
opry1862
1648 J. Raymond Itinerary Voy. Italy 174 A week after our arrive at Sienna, was an Opera represented..with severall changes of Sceanes,..and other Machines, at which the Italians are spoke to be excellent.
1652 J. Evelyn State of France 111 Streets..so incomparably fair and uniform, that you would imagine your self rather in some Italian Opera, where the diversity of Scenes surprise the beholder, then..in a real Citie.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 18. ¶2 Arsinoe was the first Opera that gave us a Taste of Italian Musick.
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 247 Resuming then the action afresh..we play'd over-again the same opera, with the same delightful harmony and concert.
1792 Brooke's Fool of Quality (new ed.) IV. 177 That evening they went to the opera.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto I cciii. 104 If any person doubt it, I appeal..To plays in five, and operas in three acts.
1880 W. S. Rockstro in G. Grove Dict. Music II. 526/2 Wagner..has written the Libretti as well as the Music of all his later Operas.
1915 W. Cather Song of Lark i. x. 71 I did n't know there was an opera about it, though.
1975 New Yorker 17 Nov. 171/1 The story comes across even more directly than when you hear the opera sung in English.
2000 H. Simpson Hey Yeah Right (2001) 91 She turned off, as she did when she had to sit through an opera.
b. Such works as a genre. Usually the opera.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > [noun] > opera as branch of drama
opera1728
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) While the English and French Comic and Tragic Theatres were forming, the Venetians invented the Opera.
1744 Suppl. to Dr. Harris's Dict. Arts & Sci. at Opera The Italian Writers are at a great deal of Pains to settle the precise Time in which the Opera began.
1759 O. Goldsmith Bee 24 Nov. 248 Some years ago the Italian opera was the only fashionable amusement among our nobility.
1763 J. Brown Diss. Poetry & Music xii. 201 Venice was the Place where the Opera first appeared in Splendor.
1789 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music IV. 18 This [sc. the end of 16th cent.] seems the true æra whence the opera, or drama, wholly set to Music..should be dated.
1881 S. Baring-Gould Germany ix. 249 It is in the Opera and the Oratorio that the most flourishing descendants of the old Mystery Plays are to be met with.
1884 G. A. Macfarren in Encycl. Brit. XVII. 87/2 The masques performed at Whitehall and at the Inns of Court were of the nature of opera.
1909 Daily Chron. 19 Jan. 4/7 In France the opera was the outcome of the ballet, and in England of the masque.
1931 J. Joyce Let. 3 Jan. (1957) 298 The wealthy musicophiles in London and New York who control the destinies of opera in those cities.
1993 High Life (Brit. Airways) Oct. 27/1 Melbourn actually likes going to the theatre and listening to the opera.
2. The place where an opera is performed; an opera-house.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > place of performance or practice > [noun] > opera house
opera1697
opera house1720
1697 T. D'Urfey Intrigues at Versailles iii. ii. 36 Come, Madam, how shall we divert this Afternoon, are you for the Opera or Gardens.
1751 F. Coventry Hist. Pompey the Little i. x. 86 A quite new Scene of Life now opened on our Hero, who..from shining conspicuous in the Side boxes of the Opera and Playhouse, was now confined to the Chambers of an old Maid.
1799 J. Austen Let. 8 Jan. (1995) 33 It is all the fashion now, worn at the Opera, & by Lady Mildmays at Hackwood Balls.
1813 H. Cowley More Ways than One sig. F4v She had all eyes on her the other night at the Opera.
1877 Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 454/2 Yesterday evening the General, his wife, and his son Jesse, accompanied by the American Legation, attended a representation of The Reine de Chypre, at the opera.
1880 W. S. Rockstro in G. Grove Dict. Music II. 518/2 If we would know what Mozart really meant, we must study him, not at the Opera, but in his own delightful Scores.
1894 J. Fiske Let. 15 Mar. (1940) 629 Last evening went to the opera with Mr. and Mrs. Franklin MacVeagh, charming people, in their box, swallow-tail and white necktie—Mozart's ‘Figaro’.
1936 N.Y. Woman 23 Sept. 19/2 Their presence in the Royal Box at the opera in Covent Garden has become a commonplace.
1981 W. Russell Educating Rita i. iv. 20 Y'know culture, y'know the word culture? Well it doesn't just mean goin' to the opera an' that, does it?
1992 S. Sontag Volcano Lover ii. v. 230 The King gave orders that anyone who appeared in a box at the opera or theatre with unpowdered hair was to be expelled.
Compounds
C1. With qualification denoting a particular branch or kind.ballad, comic, horse, number, rock opera, etc.: see the first element. See also opera bouffe n., opera buffa n., opera comique n., opera magica n., opera semiseria n., opera seria n.
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1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 18. ¶1 It is my Design in this Paper to deliver down to Posterity a faithful Account of the Italian Opera.
1802 F. Burney Jrnls. & Lett. 22–24 Apr. (1975) V. 267 Made d'henin made a party for us all to meet again the next day, & go to the Opera Buffa.
1884 St. James's Gaz. 10 Apr. 5/2 On Monday a comic opera or operetta..is to be brought out.
1937 Sun (Baltimore) 12 Apr. 5/3 ‘The Second Hurricane’ is neither grand nor light opera.
1970 Oxf. Compan. Music (ed. 10) 517/2 It was as intermezzo or intermède that the comic opera grew up.
1991 R. Davies Murther & Walking Spirits ii. x. 63 What Yankee wag was it who recalled the song from Polly, the popular ballad opera which followed The Beggar's Opera.
C2.
a. General attributive.
(a)
opera ballet n.
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1837 Southern Literary Messenger 3 198/2 In the evening I went to the French opera, where the new opera-ballet of ‘La Tentation,’ the second act of Guillame Tell, and the ballet of Nathalie, were performed.
1999 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 12 Aug. 15/1 For their scenario, they drew on..the backlog of Opera ballets about the sleeping princess.
opera band n.
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1798 T. Holcroft Diary 14 Oct. in Memoirs (1816) III. 48 Gave young Watts the letters of recommendation for the opera band.
1840 Spirit of Times 4 Apr. 49/3 A distinguished young performer in an opera band in London.
1999 F. M. Palmer Domenico Dragonetti ii. iv. 113 List..of members of the opera band in 1821.
opera bill n.
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1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 405. ¶1 The Opera Bills for this Day.
1871 Atlantic Monthly July 100/1 She saw this opera bill,—It was a wasp to sting her:..she..said..‘none Shall sing Fidelio to-night but me!’
1987 Toronto Star (Nexis) 31 Jan. g11 The more usual pairing of I Pagliacci with the Mascagni opera—the Cav and Pag of many an opera bill—has been abandoned in this case.
opera book n.
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1741 H. Fielding Welsh Opera i. vi. 10 Had I the learning of the author of that opera book in the parlour window, I could not make a simile to my love.
1879 G. Grove Dict. Music I. 196 Like Mendelssohn he [sc. Beethoven] was in earnest in pursuit of an opera-book.
1991 She May 80/1 They'll look up the details of the plot and characters in..Kobbés Complete Opera Book.
opera box n.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > auditorium > [noun] > box or compartment
pew1558
lord's room1592
box1609
private boxa1640
side-box1676
balcony1718
lodge1730
green box1732
stage box1740
loge1768
opera box1789
dress box1795
property box1809
omnibus1840
omnibus box1842
baignoire1873
1789 C. Smith What is She? iv. ii. 14 An opera box next my wife.
1828 J. Ebers Seven Years King's Theatre iv. 82 It had been customary with my predecessors to publish, at the commencement of every season, a little book, specifying that boxes were taken for the season by the different subscribers—a sort of Opera-box directory.
1997 J. Fryer in H. Bloom Amer. Women Fiction Writers 212 Her empty place in the family opera box signifies her diminishing importance.
opera cane n.
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1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross I. v. 86 A black gold-headed opera cane.
2000 Times (Nexis) 15 Nov. We have bought his [sc. a fashion writer's] opera cane and pen and several suits.
opera chorus n.
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1840 H. Cockton Life Valentine Vox xi. 72 His real name is Growlaway. He's in the Opera chorus, and a regular trump he is too.
1992 Independent 11 Aug. 15/1 The Royal Opera chorus took a commendable anti-ageist policy to extremes.
opera company n.
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1778 R. Cumberland Battle of Hastings (front matter) Whilst clubs of neutral petit-maitres boast A kind of opera company at most, Whose dress, air, action, all is imitation.
1880 W. S. Rockstro in G. Grove Dict. Music II. 512/2 A rival Opera Company was established at the ‘Little Theatre, in Lincoln's Inn Fields’.
1993 This Mag. Aug. 2/1 He feels more like the director of an opera company than an editor.
opera dancer n.
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1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) ii. 49 Marinasa the opera dancer was in the company, and a companion of his.
1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel III. x. xxiv. 215 The walls were covered with..the portraits of opera-dancers.
1998 J. A. Sadie Compan. to Baroque Mus. i. 289 Marie Sallé, the Paris Opera dancer Handel engaged, could hardly have been expected to compete with Farinelli.
opera day n.
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1711 J. Swift Let. 31 Jan. (1768) IV. 219 I..dined with Ford upon his Opera-day.
1911 tr. J. Verne Wks. VII. 371 It was on a Saturday, an opera day.
2002 Express (Nexis) 16 Apr. 39 August 8-11: Suomenlinna Opera days: performances and concerts.
opera goer n.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > music appreciation > music lover > [noun] > of opera
opera-going1822
opera goer1844
1844 Spirit of Times 10 Feb. 592/2 What habitual theatre or opera-goer has not been tempted a thousand times to laugh outright..at the incongruities..of the stage.
2000 Opera Now Jan. 28/1 70 per cent of opera goers in Montreal are Francophone.
opera hero n.
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1711 Spectator No. 28 2 Apr. , ⁋1 I will not say that a monkey is a better man than some of the opera heroes; but certainly he is a better representative of a man.
1855 W. B. Wood Personal Recoll. Stage v. 113 As the representative of opera heroes..he had no superior.
2000 D. Smith tr. F. Nietzsche Birth Trag. 104 The eternally virtuous opera hero, the eternally flute-playing or singing shepherd.., must in the end always rediscover himself.
opera-lover n.
ΚΠ
1848 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. June 569 Opera-lovers were not thus to be deprived of the pleasure of offering a tribute to their favorite.
1993 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 1 July 39/4 Opera-lovers face a dilemma tomorrow night, with two super sopranos singing on different stages in the same building.
opera maker n.
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1716 A. Pope Corr. 9 July (1956) I. 347 Some Italian Chymists, Fidlers, Bricklayers, and Opera-makers.
1853 Putnam's Monthly Mag. Feb. 240/1 In which case, Halevy, an elaborately uninteresting composer, or Adam, a gay, light opera-maker, will be appointed his successor as Director of the Conservatoire.
2001 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 11 Nov. vi. 86 These opera makers are roughest on [Patty] Hearst, here a materialist media maven who flashes back to her captivity in the SLA closet.
opera master n.
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1813 R. Wilson Private Diary II. 186 The Crown Prince was still in Leipsic..dressed like an opera-master.
1998 H. Yen Theater & Soc. p. xxxix The play never spares the Beijing Opera master his sense of profound crisis.
opera musician n.
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1799 C. Powys Passages from Diaries Mrs. Powys (1899) 327 Some of the opera musicians came from London to perform it.
2001 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 1 Dec. (Arts section) es7 All roads lead to Windsor this weekend as three of Canada's most prominent opera musicians gather on one stage for an evening of arias and duets.
opera night n.
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1712 C. Johnson Wife's Relief iii. ii. 34 The neighbouring Oyster-women, Porters, Grooms, and all the Infantry of the Brass Button meet there always (except on Opera Nights) to Play at Basset.
1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sketches 121 On opera nights they generally volunteered their services to fill out the harmony.
1991 J. Milhous Reg. Eng. Theatr. Documents 475 The low salary total (£14 6s per ‘opera night’) may have been part of a protest by Swiney against inflation in salaries.
opera repertory n.
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1898 J. Stainer Stainer & Barrett's Dict. Musical Terms (rev. ed.) 329/2 Their works are still part of every Opera repertory.
1990 Shakespeare Q. 41 525 (advt.) Ranging widely through Shakespeare's canon and the standard opera repertory, Schmidgall presents an illuminating comparison.
opera season n.
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1797 T. Holcroft Adventures Hugh Trevor V. vi. 67 The opera season began rather early that year, and many families were not yet come to town.
1870 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows (1886) 17 The bobolink's..opera-season is a short one.
2000 Opera Now Jan. 10/1 The bel canto tradition..has become the focus of the town's winter opera season.
opera singer n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > singer > opera-singer > [noun]
opera singer1739
1739 D. Bellamy Rival Priests i. i. 8 The Dog, for aught I know, may have an ill Design against me, and may think to qualify me for an Opera Singer.
1824 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 1st Ser. I. 95 The comparative excellence of the two opera-singers.
2001 Classic FM Aug. 15/2 She's dismissive about singing popular songs or ‘crossover’ material—‘It's not my job, I'm an opera singer’.
opera song n.
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1716 D. Ryder Diary 27 Mar. (1939) (modernized text) 207 And some time after a Frenchman came in who sung some of the French opera songs in concert with our two flutes and the bass.
1874 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch IV. xxxviii. 280 ‘Oh, he's a dangerous young sprig, that Mr Ladislaw,’ said Mrs Cadwallader, ‘with his opera songs and ready tongue’.
1989 J. Casey Spartina (1990) 30 He'd do guinea opera songs.
opera stage n.
ΚΠ
1733 E. Phillips Livery Rake i. 27 The Italian Nymphs and Swains, That adorn the Opera Stage, with their Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
1873 Appletons' Jrnl. 19 Apr. 535/2 With us professional dancing has become inseparably connected with the opera stage.
1997 E. White Farewell Symphony (1998) viii. 336 The muffled busyness that suggested an undressed opera stage where a director was rehearsing a crowd scene with extras in street clothes.
opera ticket n.
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1723 Acct. Tryal S. Salisbury 3 There was some Discourse passed between them about an Opera Ticket.
1997 E. White Farewell Symphony (1998) ix. 355 For a dozen friends he mailed their packages, bought their opera tickets, edited their manuscripts [etc.].
(b)
opera-loving adj.
ΚΠ
1878 Johnson's New Universal Cycl. IV. 1215/1 The popular arts of song and melody which delight the ears of the opera-loving public.
1995 Today 27 July 9/5 The kitchens serve a selection of £14 salads, £4 salmon sandwiches and desserts to opera-loving big cheeses.
opera-mad adj.
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1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. ii. 334 Had I run Opera-mad..or Election-mad I might have found companions enow to keep me in countenance.
1866 D. M. M. Craik Life for Life 114 ‘Oh, Charteris is opera-mad,’ said Tom.
1999 M. Gustafson et al. We have come to Stay 132 Especially thrilling were all the theatrical performances in the opera-mad city of the 1850s.
b.
opera cloak n. a cloak of rich material worn over evening clothes, esp. by women.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > loose clothing > cloak, mantle, or cape > types of > for specific purpose
masque1577
mourning cloak1610
coach-cloak1705
domino1719
rochet1728
watch-cloak1814
opera cloak1836
railway wrapper1846
duster1864
sortie de bal1864
dust-cloak1883
Venetian1891
gas cape1940
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. II. 47 There..was the young lady, wrapped up in a hopera-cloak.
1908 ‘O. Henry’ Options 84 Nevada [pulled the letter]..out from beneath her opera-cloak.
2002 Liverpool Leader (Nexis) 3 Apr. Among the displays will be an opera cloak from the 1840s belonging to an old Liverpool family.
opera-cloaked adj. wearing an opera-cloak.
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1860 All Year Round 21 Apr. 34 Down the staircase came the..crinolined, lorgnetted, opera-cloaked..throng.
1999 Stage (Nexis) 22 July 11 Variety artists have always introduced whistling into their acts, from opera-cloaked, top-hatted Australian Albert Whelan in the 1890s to 20th century Gracie Fields.
opera-girl n. (a) archaic a girl or woman who dances in the ballet of an opera; †(b) (in plural opera-girls) a greenhouse plant, Mantisia saltatoria (family Zingiberaceae) (obsolete); cf. dancing-girl n. 2.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > foliage, house, or garden plants > [noun] > dancing-girls
dancing-girls1866
opera-girl1866
1744 H. Walpole Let. 22 July (1903) II. 40 Young Churchill has got a daughter by the Frasi; Mr. Winnington calls it the opéra comique; the mother is an opera girl; the grandmother was Mrs. Oldfield.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 815/2 Opera-girls, Mantisia saltatoria.
1997 T. Pynchon Mason & Dixon xlii. 427 To my knowledge, tho' there be Tailors, Oracles, Pastrymen, Musicians, Gaming-Pitches, Opera-Girls, Exhibitors of Panoramic Models, bless us all, there is not yet an Electric Eel.
opera god n. (a) a person who portrays a god in an opera; (b) an important opera performer.
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1712 W. Oldisworth tr. R. Bentley Note in Horace Odes VIII. ii. viii. 35/1 Unless some unexpected Copy should step forth, like an Opera God out of a flying Chariot.
1940 M. Wolff tr. H. E. Jacob Johann Strauss ii. ix. 244 Suppé the Italian in his good moments had inspirations which an opera god like Rossini would not have despised.
2000 Daily News (New York) (Nexis) 14 Feb. 18 Jose Carreras is ready to take the stage after having his hip replaced. The 54-year old opera god recently went under the knife at Lenox Hill Hospital.
opera-going adj. and n. (a) adj. that regularly attends operas; (b) n. the action or habit of attending operas.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > music appreciation > music lover > [noun] > of opera
opera-going1822
opera goer1844
society > leisure > the arts > music > music appreciation > music lover > [adjective] > of opera
opera-going1822
1822 H. Luttrell Lett. to Julia I. 13 If Ebers better suits than Waters Our opera-going wives and daughters?
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda I. ii. xviii. 359 It was enough for them to go on in their old way, only having a grand treat of opera-going (to the gallery) when Hans came home on a visit.
1995 Ledger (Lakeland, Florida) (Nexis) 10 Feb. (Time Out section) 7 He..suggests finding an opera-going friend who will tell you about major musical and dramatic moments.
1998 Daily Tel. 2 Jan. 29/6 A good table at the bar, from which you can wave and be seen by all when the audience comes out—the most important aspect of opera-going.
opera hat n. a hat suitable for use at the opera; spec. a man's tall collapsible hat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > which can be crushed flat
opera hat1803
crush hat1839
gibus1848
1803 F. Reynolds Delays & Blunders iv. 54 Put a monkey on a short coat, long pantaloons, thick neckcloth, cropt wig, large opera hat, and there's as good a husband as the best of them.
1952 A. Powell Buyer's Market i. 76 One of the servants handed him an opera hat, which he opened with a sharp crepitation.
1995 Interzone Feb. 29/1 The vampire look makes more use than one would wish of opera hats and cloaks.
opera hood n. a hood worn with evening clothes.
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1855 ‘Q. K. P. Doesticks’ Doesticks, what he Says 315 Lorgnettes, Opera-hoods, and white kids are not exhibited here in such profusion as in some other places of amusement.
1882 Queen 23 Dec. (advt.) Opera hood..Black, Brown, Cream, Pale Blue, and Electric.
1987 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 19 June vi6/1 Dr. Robert Tranquada wore his academic Stanford regalia, Peter Adams a Peking opera hood, and Pam and Jim Boswell led a contingent of four brides and bridegrooms.
opera house n. a theatre for the performance of operas; (also, in extended use) a building in which other theatrical or dramatic performances are staged.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > place of performance or practice > [noun] > opera house
opera1697
opera house1720
1720 London Gaz. No. 5839/3 The Opera-House in the Hay-Market.
1807 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life III. xviii. 157 The gallery at the Opera-House—restricting you, not merely to a bird's-eye view of the Dancers, but to a bird's-ear sound of the Singers.
1870 T. A. Brown Hist. Amer. Stage 66/2 She..reappeared during the winter of 1868, at the Fifth Avenue Opera House, New York, in burlesque.
1976 New Yorker 9 Feb. 81/1 The decision to present this production in the large opera house of the Academy instead of in the pleasant new theatre downstairs did it no good.
2000 Opera Now Jan. 27 (caption) A modern opera house, the Grand Théâtre de Quebec..with its dynamic resident company, promises a better future for Québecois opera lovers.
opera queen n. slang (a) a female opera singer, a diva; (b) a homosexual man who is fanatical about opera, esp. one characterized as being affectedly haughty and over-refined.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > singer > opera-singer > [noun] > prima donna
opera queen1747
prima donna1754
prima1768
first woman1772
prima donna assoluta1854
diva1883
1747 Lady M. W. Montagu St. James' Coffee-house in Six Town Eclogues 9 The opera queens had finish'd half their faces, And city-dames already taken places... The beauties stay till the first act's begun.
1980 Washington Post (Nexis) 8 Dec. b1 Opera queen Beverly Sills shared a table with actor Donald Sutherland.
1980 Maledicta 1979 236 Queen can also be a suffix with or without derogatory overtones: leather queen, nostalgia queen, opera queen.
1994 A. Theroux Primary Colors 134 The hometown rooms of protagonist..Paul, a feminized overaesthetic music freak and ‘opera queen’, later a suicide, have yellow wallpaper.
opera window n. originally and chiefly U.S. a small (esp. triangular) window at the back of either side of a motor car, usually behind the rear side window; a quarter-light.
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1971 N.Y. Times 5 Aug. 66/3 The new model also has..a round opera window on the side panel at the rear.
2002 Chicago Daily Herald (Nexis) 28 Aug. (Neighbor section) 1 Burglars smashed the driver's-side opera window and stole an in-dash Sony CD player and a small jewelry box with a glass lid.
c. Applied to styles of women's underclothing suitable for wearing with evening dress, characterized by a low neckline and narrow shoulder straps.† opera combinations n. Obsolete rare† opera shape n. Obsolete rare
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1923 Weekly Disp. 18 Feb. 14 (advt.) Pure Wool Opera Combinations... Ribbon shoulder straps.
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1928 Daily Mail 31 July 1/1 (advt.) Artificial silk vest..opera shape.
opera top n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > underwear > [noun] > other
frilly1900
opera top1921
liner suit1969
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 18 Oct. 19/1 (advt.) Women's ‘Turnbull's’ Mixture Combinations, with low neck, short or no sleeves, with opera tops and ankle length.
1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 72 Vest..sometimes with shoulder-straps, and known as ‘Opera top’.
1989 Grattan Direct Catal. Spring–Summer 242/1 ‘Wolsey’ fancy knit 12 gauge body suit with attractive embroidered lace on opera top. Three popper fastening and double gusset.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
operan.2
/ˈɒp(ə)rə/, U.S. /ˈɑp(ə)rə/ Now rare.
= opus n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [noun] > regarded as the result of labour
travailc1350
watch-birth1606
opera1785
opus1808
oeuvre1889
1724 Short Explic. Foreign Words Musick Bks. 51 Opera; the Signification of this Word is so well known that it needs no Explanation: I shall only observe, That it properly signifies Work, and is thus often used. ¶Opera Prima, First Work [etc.].]
1785 Daily Universal Reg. 1 Jan. 3/1 New Music..Haydn's Overture, Opera 35, for Harpsichord, 10s. 6d.
1808 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) II. 16 The two volumes are in the printer's hands,..one reason..was..to have all my operas in the same size.
1827 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) IV. 374 Allan Cunningham has sent me his ‘Burns’... My own operas will come into this form when I am gone.
1952 G. Sarton Hist. Sci. I. xviii. 456 The princeps of the Greek opera was published by Luca Antonio Giunta in Venice, 1516.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† operav.
Obsolete. rare.
transitive. To take to the opera.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > music appreciation > music lover > music loving or appreciative [verb (transitive)] > of opera
opera1853
1853 C. Reade Christie Johnstone 318 He will fête you, and opera you.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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