a passage in an opera or oratorio that is sung in the rhythm of ordinary speech with many words on the same noteWordfinderoperaaria,chorus,coloratura,diva,libretto,opera,orchestra pit,recitative,score,surtitlesWord Originmid 17th cent.: from Italian recitativo, from Latin recitare ‘to read out’, from re- (expressing intensive force) + citare ‘cite’.
See recitative in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
