Prima donna

This article is about the female opera singer. For other uses, see Prima Donna (disambiguation).
"Prima donnas" redirects here. For the Philippine television drama series, see Prima Donnas.
Prima donna clipper ship card

In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (Italian: [ˈpriːma ˈdɔnna]; Italian for 'first lady'; pl.: prime donne) is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given.

Prime donne often had grand off-stage personalities and were seen as demanding of their colleagues. Because of this, the term has spread in contemporary usage, from its original usage in opera to referring to anyone behaving in a demanding or temperamental fashion or having an inflated view of oneself.

The prima donna in opera was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano. The corresponding term for the male lead (usually a castrato in the 17th and 18th centuries, later a tenor) is primo uomo.[1]

  1. ^ H. Rosenthal, H. and J. Warrack, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 1979. p. 398. ISBN 0-19-311321-X