Diva

How to spell diva

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce diva

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does diva mean?

1. nounA distinguished female singer, especially in opera, or by extension any glamorous star, often one regarded as temperamental and demanding.

Diva in a sentence

• The opera house hired a renowned diva for its winter season.

• The pop diva refused to leave her dressing room until the lighting was perfect.

Where does diva come from?

Language of origin: Italian

The word comes straight from Italian diva, meaning 'goddess', a noun that was itself inherited from the Latin diva, the feminine form of divus, meaning 'divine' or 'a god'. In the world of Italian opera the term was applied as a flattering title to a celebrated leading female singer, treating her gifted voice as something almost heavenly. English borrowed the word in the nineteenth century, around the 1880s, still firmly tied to the opera house and the great sopranos who reigned there. Over the twentieth century the sense broadened well beyond music, so that a diva became any glamorous, hugely successful performer, and then, often with a teasing edge, anyone who behaves in a demanding or self-important way. The same divus root that gave us diva also lies behind the familiar word 'divine', a useful reminder that the unusual ending is simply the plain Italian and Latin '-a' of a feminine noun.

How the word is built

• diva (Italian: goddess, from Latin diva, feminine of divus 'divine')