What does "serenata" mean?

Serenata: A piece of vocal music, especially one on an amoreus subject; a serenade. Or serenate, which the starved lover sings To his pround fair. Milton. Note: The name serenata was given by Italian composers in the time of Handel, and by Handel himself, to a cantata of a pastoreal of dramatic character, to a secular ode, etc.; also by Mozart and others to an orchectral composition, in several movements, midway between the suite of an earlier period and the modern symphony. Grove.