opere

Opere is the Italian noun meaning works; it is the plural form of opera, which in Italian can refer to a single work or to an entire body of work. In ordinary usage, opere denotes creative outputs produced by a writer, artist, composer, or architect, among others.

Etymology and scope: the term derives from the Italian word opera, itself from Latin opus meaning work. The plural form opere is used to refer to the complete corpus of an individual’s creations, and it appears frequently in catalogs, bibliographies, and discussions of an author’s or artist’s oeuvre. In Italian, phrases such as le opere di Da Vinci or opere pubbliche are common, with the former indicating an artist’s works and the latter referring to public or civil works.

Usage in scholarship and cataloging: in Italian-language contexts, opere may appear as a heading or descriptor for a collection of works, including literature, visual art, or architecture. In musicology, cataloging often uses opus numbers (op.) to identify individual works, while eserazioni or opere may be used in titles to denote a composer’s complete output, especially in encyclopedic or biographical entries. English-language scholars typically translate or substitute with oeuvre or simply “the works,” but opere appears in quoted Italian titles or discussions.

See also: Opera, Oeuvre, Opus.