Meanings
nounrecitative (plural recitatives)
plural recitatives
- entertainmentdialogue, 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".
adjectiverecitative (comparative more recitative, superlative most recitative)
comparative more recitative · superlative most recitative
- of a recital
Origin
- Latinrecitō
- Italianrecitativo
- Englishrecitative
From Italian recitativo, from recitare, from Latin recitō.
More words from Italian, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian речитатив
- речитатив (rečitativ)dialogue in an opera etc.
Catalan recitatiu
- recitatiudialogue in an opera etc.
Czech recitativ
- recitativdialogue in an opera etc.
Danish recitativ
- recitativdialogue in an opera etc.
Dutch recitatief
- recitatiefdialogue in an opera etc.
Finnish resitatiivi
- resitatiividialogue in an opera etc.
French récitatif
- récitatifdialogue in an opera etc.
German Rezitativ
- Rezitativdialogue in an opera etc.
Greek ρετσιτατίβο
- ρετσιτατίβο (retsitatívo)dialogue in an opera etc.
Hungarian recitativo
- recitativodialogue in an opera etc.
Irish reacaireacht, ceolreacaireacht
- reacaireachtdialogue in an opera etc.
- ceolreacaireachtdialogue in an opera etc.
Italian recitativo
- recitativodialogue in an opera etc.
Norwegian Bokmål resitativ
- resitativdialogue in an opera etc.
Polish recytatyw
- recytatywdialogue in an opera etc.
Portuguese recitativo
- recitativodialogue in an opera etc.
Romanian recitativ
- recitativdialogue in an opera etc.
Russian речитати́в
- речитати́в (rečitatív)dialogue in an opera etc.
Slovak recitativ
- recitativdialogue in an opera etc.
Spanish recitativo
- recitativodialogue in an opera etc.
Swedish recitativ
- recitativdialogue in an opera etc.
Ukrainian речитати́в
- речитати́в (rečytatýv)dialogue in an opera etc.
Cite this entry
APA
recitative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recitative
MLA
“recitative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recitative. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “recitative,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recitative.
Source: recitative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.