【英语学习】【WOTD】opusculum 释义/词源/示例

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opusculum n. [oh-PUSK-yuh-lum]

小品，小曲

Definition

: a minor work (as of literature) — usually used in plural
：次要作品（例如文学的） — 通常用复数：opuscula

Did You Know?

Opusculum — which is often used in its plural form opuscula — comes from Latin, where it serves as the diminutive form of the noun opus, meaning “work.” In English, opus can refer to any literary or artistic work, thought it often specifically refers to a musical piece. Being a diminutive of opus, opusculum logically refers to a short or minor work. Unlike its more famous relation, however, opusculum is most often used for literary works. The Latin plural of opus is opera, which gave us (via Italian) the word we know for a musical production consisting primarily of vocal pieces performed with orchestral accompaniment.

词源词根演化：opus (n. “work”) —> opusculum (n. diminutive form, “minor work”)

opusculum — 通常用其复数形式 opuscula — 来自于拉丁语。在拉丁语中，它是名词opus，意思是“作品”，的指小词形式。在英语中，opus可以指代任何文学或艺术作品，尽管其通常特指音乐作品。作为opus的指小形式，opusculum逻辑上是指短篇作品或者次要作品。但是不像著名的opus，opusculum最常用于指代文学作品。在拉丁语中，opus的复数形式是opera，这个词通过意大利语进入英语，指代我们熟知的音乐作品歌剧，主要由声部以及管弦乐队伴奏构成。

注：orchestral：管弦乐队的

Examples

• The book is a collection of opuscula written by the author between her two major novels.
  这本书中收集了作者在她的两部主要小说中间创作的一些小品文。

• '[Maria] Artamonova offers short summaries of most of Tolkien’s satellite opuscula in roughly their order of composition — The Father Christmas Letters, Roverandom, Mr Bliss, Farmer Giles of Ham, “Leaf by Niggle,” and Smith of Wootton Major."
  — Jason Fisher, Mythlore, 22 Sept. 2016

  Maria Artamonova提供了Tolkien的大多数的次要作品的简介，大致上是按照创作的顺序排列 — The Father Christmas Letters, Roverandom, Mr Bliss, Farmer Giles of Ham, “Leaf by Niggle,” 和Smith of Wootton Major."

  注：satellite：adj. 附属的，辅助的