Opera buffa is the Italian term for comic opera. The word buffa is connected with the English buffoon, a clown or idiot. The term opera buffa originally was one of several names applied to comic Italian operas of the 1700's, in which the action was carried along by means of recitative (speechlike singing), with arias, ensembles, and choruses coming at various points throughout the work. Today the term is applied much more widely.