Magnum opus

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Magnum opus (sometimes Opus magnum, plural magna opera), from the Latin meaning great work,^[1] refers to the best, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer, and most commonly one who has contributed a very large amount of material. For instance, Don Quixote is the magnum opus of Miguel de Cervantes; In Search of Lost Time (also known as Remembrance of Things Past) is the magnum opus of Marcel Proust;^[2] Leonardo Da Vinci's magnum opus is the Mona Lisa; Jonathan Swift's magnum opus is Gulliver's Travels. It can also refer to an individual literary or artistic masterpiece^[3] (for example, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony). The term is also used in alchemy, with a complex meaning that mainly refers to the philosopher's stone.^[4]

[edit] References

1. ^ The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Retrieved December 10, 2006, from Dictionary.com
2. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1), Retrieved December 10, 2006, from Dictionary.com
3. ^ WordNet® 2.1, Retrieved December 10, 2006, from Dictionary.com
4. ^ Redgrove, Herbert Stanley, Alchemy: Ancient and Modern, Section 43: Bernard Trévisan, Copyright 1999, by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia

[edit] See also

• Masterpiece
• Seminal work
• Work of art
• Magnum opus was a song by American rock and roll band Kansas on the album Leftoverture

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