Definition of "opera"

opera¹

/ˈɒp.əɹ.ə/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural operas or opere
1. (music) A theatrical work, combining drama, music, song and sometimes dance.
2. (music) The score for such a work.
3. A building designed for the performance of such works; an opera house.
  Quotations
  “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, […], the jewelled animals whose moral code is the code of the barnyard—!"
  1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company
4. A company dedicated to performing such works.
5. (by extension) Any showy, melodramatic or unrealistic production resembling an opera.

opera²

/ˈɒp.əɹ.ə/

noun
1. plural of opus; a collection of work.