[Ads-l] Antedating of "Prima Donna"

[Shapiro, Fred]

prima donna (OED 1782)

1754 Alexander Drummond _Travels Through Different Cities of Germany, Italy, Greece, and Several Parts of Asia_ 52 (Eighteenth Century Collections Online)  Signora Ronchetti, the prima donna or heroine of the piece, would charm a listening world.

Fred Shapiro

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