rifacimento: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
C2 (Very Low Frequency / Specialist)Formal, Academic, Specialized (Literary/Music Criticism)
Quick answer
What does “rifacimento” mean?
A reworking, revision, or remake of a musical, literary, or artistic work.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A reworking, revision, or remake of a musical, literary, or artistic work.
A new version of an existing work, often implying an adaptation, revision, or refurbishment that retains the original's essence while altering its form or expression.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant national difference in meaning. The word is equally rare and specialized in both varieties.
Connotations
In both varieties, the term suggests scholarly or artistic revisionism. It may imply a work that is derivative but ambitious.
Frequency
Extremely rare in general usage; almost exclusively found in academic texts on opera, literature, or art history. Slightly more likely to be encountered in UK contexts due to stronger traditions of Italian opera scholarship, but this is marginal.
Grammar
How to Use “rifacimento” in a Sentence
a rifacimento of [ORIGINAL WORK]to produce a rifacimentoto undergo rifacimentoVocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “rifacimento” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The composer chose to rifaciment the final act decades later.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Virtually never used.
Academic
Used in humanities, especially musicology (e.g., discussing different versions of an opera) and literary studies.
Everyday
Never used.
Technical
Used as a precise term in art/literary criticism to denote a specific type of revised work.
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “rifacimento”
- Misspelling as 'refacimento' (the Italian root is 'ri-fare', to re-do).
- Using it to mean a 'performance' or 'interpretation'.
- Using it in non-artistic contexts.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it is a loanword from Italian, fully naturalized in English scholarly vocabulary, though it remains very rare.
A translation changes the language. A rifacimento reworks the original within the same (or a similar) medium, changing its form, structure, or expression while aiming to preserve its core idea or story.
It can be, though 'remake', 'adaptation', or 'reimagining' are far more common. Using 'rifacimento' for a film would imply a scholarly or highly artistic perspective on the remake.
In British English: /rɪˌfætʃɪˈmɛntəʊ/ (ri-FATCH-i-MEN-toh). In American English: /riˌfɑtʃɪˈmɛntoʊ/ (ree-FAH-chi-MEN-toh). The stress is on the penultimate syllable '-men-'.
A reworking, revision, or remake of a musical, literary, or artistic work.
Rifacimento is usually formal, academic, specialized (literary/music criticism) in register.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “None specific to this word.”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: 'RE-FAÇADE-MENTO'. Imagine an old building getting a new facade (front) - a 'rifacimento' is giving an old work a new artistic 'face' or form.
Conceptual Metaphor
ARTISTIC WORK IS A BUILDING (that can be remodelled/re-faced).
Practice
Quiz
In which context are you MOST likely to encounter the word 'rifacimento'?