libretto
noun
li·bret·to lə-ˈbre-(ˌ)tō 
plural librettos or libretti lə-ˈbre-(ˌ)tē
1
: the text of a work (such as an opera) for the musical theater
2
: the book containing a libretto
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Millepied and Britell selected lyrics from Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy’s original libretto to Bizet’s opera, and Britell arranged them into the score. 
Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 7 Sep. 2022 But in between, the pace often sags as the libretto, rather than the music, is tasked with building up the complete picture, incorporating many details that ultimately seem peripheral, and tending to tell rather than show. Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 26 July 2022 Inspired by this libretto, Strauss wrote page after page of winningly lighthearted music including an exceptionally sublime closing aria. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 15 July 2022 Yet in opera houses around the world, the play’s most enduring adaptation is surely that of Charles Gounod, which premiered in Paris in 1867, with a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Aug. 2022 Now, with the premiere on Saturday here at Santa Fe Opera of an adaptation by the composer Huang Ruo, with a libretto by David Henry Hwang, the play’s author, the butterfly has returned to its operatic chrysalis. New York Times, 1 Aug. 2022 Elsewhere, stage directions for singers and on-stage extras in the libretto were replaced by four modern dancers. Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 May 2022 While Frédéric Boyer’s libretto spans a tremendous amount of material, the text doesn’t feel rushed, but as calmly solemn, prayerlike and formal as a ceremony of Gregorian monks, with choral incantations interjected throughout. New York Times, 12 July 2022 Cristofer’s libretto at first seemed slightly too reliant on recurring phrases and exchanges, but when taken in the context that the events represent Emile’s unreliable memories, that seems to be a feature rather than a bug. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 24 May 2022 See More
Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 7 Sep. 2022 But in between, the pace often sags as the libretto, rather than the music, is tasked with building up the complete picture, incorporating many details that ultimately seem peripheral, and tending to tell rather than show. Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 26 July 2022 Inspired by this libretto, Strauss wrote page after page of winningly lighthearted music including an exceptionally sublime closing aria. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 15 July 2022 Yet in opera houses around the world, the play’s most enduring adaptation is surely that of Charles Gounod, which premiered in Paris in 1867, with a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Aug. 2022 Now, with the premiere on Saturday here at Santa Fe Opera of an adaptation by the composer Huang Ruo, with a libretto by David Henry Hwang, the play’s author, the butterfly has returned to its operatic chrysalis. New York Times, 1 Aug. 2022 Elsewhere, stage directions for singers and on-stage extras in the libretto were replaced by four modern dancers. Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 May 2022 While Frédéric Boyer’s libretto spans a tremendous amount of material, the text doesn’t feel rushed, but as calmly solemn, prayerlike and formal as a ceremony of Gregorian monks, with choral incantations interjected throughout. New York Times, 12 July 2022 Cristofer’s libretto at first seemed slightly too reliant on recurring phrases and exchanges, but when taken in the context that the events represent Emile’s unreliable memories, that seems to be a feature rather than a bug. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 24 May 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Italian, diminutive of libro book, from Latin libr-, liber
First Known Use
1742, in the meaning defined at sense 1
- thalass-
- thalassaemia
- thalassaemias
- thalassaemic
- thalassal
- Thalassarctos
- thalassemia
- thalassemia major
- thalassemia minor
- thalassemias
- thalassemic
- thalassemics
- thalassian
- thalassians
- thalassic
- thalassinid
- Thalassinidea
- thalassinidean
- thalassinoid
- thalasso-
- Thalassochelys
- thalassocracies
- thalassocracy
- thalassocrat
- thalassocrats