opera

oper-a Vorlage:lat. ‘Arbeit, Tätigkeit, Mühe’.

From opus, operis n (“work”), via reinterpretation of its nominative plural form as a feminine singular noun.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈo.pe.ra/, [ˈɔpɛrä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈo.pe.ra/, [ˈɔːperä]

Noun

opera f (genitive operae); first declension

1. work, exertion, effort [ synonyms ▲][ quotations ▼]

   Synonyms: cōnātus, opus, studium, labor, cūra, mōlīmen, intēnsiō, mōlēs, pulvis

   operae non est (+ infinitive) ― there is no need to, there is no time to

2. service [ quotations ▼]
3. (especially with dō) care, attention bestowed on something (or someone, especially a teacher)
   1. with dative [ quotations ▼]
   2. (uncommon) with ad + accusative [ quotations ▼]
   3. with ut/nē + subjunctive [ quotations ▼]
   4. with the subjunctive alone [ quotations ▼]
   5. (Old Latin, rare) with the infinitive [ quotations ▼]
4. (in the ablative and with possesive pronouns) one's fault, agency, doing [ quotations ▼]
5. (Old Latin) (in the ablative, with experior) one's own experience [ quotations ▼]
6. (Old Latin) (with ūnā or eādem) manner, way [ quotations ▼]
7. spare time for something (see #Usage notes) [ quotations ▼]
8. a day's labour [ quotations ▼]
9. (metonymically) day labourer, farmhand [ quotations ▼]
   1. (by extension) any kind of worker [ quotations ▼]
   2. (derogatory, politics) hired aider, tool, rowdy [ quotations ▼]
10. deed, activity, effort [ quotations ▼]
11. handiwork [ quotations ▼]

Usage notes

The word, in its “spare time” meaning, is frequently used in the ante-classic period, and especially by Plautus, in the locution operae esse, meaning 'to be worth the time'. Later on, it is characteristic of Livy's style and of the archaising tendencies of Silver Latin.

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	opera	operae
Genitive	operae	operārum
Dative	operae	operīs
Accusative	operam	operās
Ablative	operā	operīs
Vocative	opera	operae