Dramma per musica (Italian, literally: drama for music, plural: drammi per musica) is a term which was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the late-17th and mid-19th centuries. In modern times the same meaning of drama for music was conveyed through the Italian Greek-rooted word melodramma (from μέλος = song or music + δρᾶμα = scenic action). Dramma per musica never meant "drama through music", let alone music drama.