/ser'euh nah"teuh/ , n. , pl. serenatas, serenate /-tay/ . Music.
1. a form of secular cantata, often of a dramatic or imaginative character.
2. an instrumental composition in several movements, intermediate between the suite and the symphony.
[ 1715-25; serenata evening song, equiv. to seren ( o ) SERENE + -ata n. suffix, associated with sera evening; cf. SOIREE ]