recitative
/ɹɛsɪtəˈtiːv/
recitative noun: dialogue, in an opera etc, that, rather than being sung as an aria, is reproduced with the rhythms of normal speech, often with simple musical accompaniment or harpsichord continuo, serving to expound the plot.
Noun
recitative (plural recitatives)
- dialogue, in an opera etc, that, rather than being sung as an aria, is reproduced with the rhythms of normal speech, often with simple musical accompaniment or harpsichord continuo, serving to expound the plot.
- In Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience, Bunthorne performs the recitative "Am I Alone and Unobserved?" before going on to his solo aria "If You're Anxious For To Shine".
Adjective
IPA/ɹɛˈsaɪtətɪv/
recitative (comparative more recitative, superlative most recitative)
- of a recital
recitative meaning in Urdu
recitative in Urdu
- مقابلہ گلوکاری
Forms of recitative
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | recitatives |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more recitative |
| superlative | most recitative |
Origin of recitative
From Italian recitativo, from recitare, from Latin recitō.
Words formed from recitative
Questions about recitative
- What does recitative mean?
- Recitative means dialogue, in an opera etc, that, rather than being sung as an aria, is reproduced with the rhythms of normal speech, often with simple musical accompaniment or harpsichord continuo, serving to expound the plot.
- What is recitative in Urdu?
- Recitative in Urdu is مقابلہ گلوکاری. See Recitative meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is recitative?
- Recitative can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce recitative?
- Recitative is pronounced /ɹɛsɪtəˈtiːv/.
- What is the plural of recitative?
- The plural of recitative is recitatives.
Words near recitative in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: recitative (page history and authors); recitative (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-recitative (noun).wav.
Cite this entry: “recitative.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/recitative. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.