a building, part of a building, or outdoor area for housing dramatic presentations, stage entertainments, or motion-picture shows.
2.
the audience at a theatrical or motion-picture performance: The theater wept.
3.
a theatrical or acting company.
4.
a room or hall, fitted with tiers of seats rising like steps, used for lectures, surgical demonstrations, etc.: Students crowded into the operating theater.
5.
the theater, dramatic performances as a branch of art; the drama: an actress devoted to the theater.
6.
dramatic works collectively, as of literature, a nation, or an author (often prec. by the): the theater of Ibsen.
7.
the quality or effectiveness of dramatic performance: good theater; bad theater; pure theater.
8.
a place of action; field of operations.
9.
a natural formation of land rising by steps or gradations.
[Origin: 1325–75; ME theatre < L theātrum < Gk théātron seeing place, theater, equiv. to theā-, s. of theâsthai to view + -tron suffix denoting means or place]
—Synonyms 8. arena, site, stage, setting, scene.
—Pronunciation note Theater, an early Middle English borrowing from French, originally had its primary stress on the second syllable: Audio Help/Fr.teɪˈɑtrə/Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[Fr.tey-ah-truh]Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation. As with many early French borrowings (beauty, carriage, marriage), the stress moved to the first syllable, in conformity with a common English pattern of stress, and this pattern remains the standard one for theater today: Audio Help/ˈθiətər, ˈθiə-/[thee-uh-ter, theeuh-]. A pronunciation with stress on the second syllable and the Audio Help/eɪ/[ey]vowel: Audio Help/θiˈeɪtər/[thee-ey-ter]or sometimes Audio Help/ˈθiˌeɪtər/[thee-ey-ter]is characteristic chiefly of uneducated speech.
A building, room, or outdoor structure for the presentation of plays, films, or other dramatic performances.
A room with tiers of seats used for lectures or demonstrations: an operating theater at a medical school.
Dramatic literature or its performance; drama: the theater of Shakespeare and Marlowe.
The milieu of actors and playwrights.
The quality or effectiveness of a theatrical production: good theater; awful theater.
Dramatic material or the use of such material: "His summation was a great piece of courtroom theater"(Ron Rosenbaum).
The quality or effectiveness of a theatrical production: good theater; awful theater.
Dramatic material or the use of such material: "His summation was a great piece of courtroom theater"(Ron Rosenbaum).
The audience assembled for a dramatic performance.
A place that is the setting for dramatic events.
A large geographic area in which military operations are coordinated: the European theater during World War II.
[Middle English theatre, from Old French, from Latin theātrum, from Greek theātron, from theāsthai, to watch, from theā, a viewing.]
Word History: Theories about the development of the theater in the West generally begin with Greek drama; this is etymologically appropriate as well as historically correct, since the words theory and theater are related through their Greek sources. The Greek ancestor of theater is theātron, "a place for seeing, especially for dramatic representation, theater." Theātron is derived from the verb theāsthai, "to gaze at, contemplate, view as spectators, especially in the theater," from theā, "a viewing." The Greek ancestor of theory is theōriā, which meant among other things "the sending of theōroi (state ambassadors sent to consult oracles or attend games)," "the act of being a spectator at the theater or games," "viewing," "contemplation by the mind," and "theory or speculation." The source of theōriā is theōros, "an envoy sent to consult an oracle, spectator," a compound of theā, "viewing," and -oros, "seeing." It is thus fitting to elaborate theories about culture while seeing a play in a theater.
c.1374, "open air place in ancient times for viewing spectacles," from O.Fr. theatre (12c.), from L. theatrum, from Gk. theatron "theater," lit. "place for viewing," from theasthai "to behold" (cf. thea "a view," theates "spectator") + -tron, suffix denoting place. Meaning "building where plays are shown" (1577) was transferred to that of "plays, writing, production, the stage" (1668). Spelling with -re prevailed in Britain after c.1700, but Amer.Eng. retained or revived the older spelling in -er. Generic sense of "place of action" is from 1581; especially "region where war is being fought" (1914). Theatrical "pertaining to the theater" is recorded from 1558; in the sense of "stagy, histrionic" it is attested from 1709.
"The Theatre of the Absurd strives to express its sense of the senselessness of the human condition and the inadequacy of the rational approach by the open abandonment of rational devices and discursive thought." [M. Esslin, "Theatre of the Absurd," 1961]
a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented; "the house was full"
2.
the art of writing and producing plays [syn: dramaturgy]
3.
a region in which active military operations are in progress; "the army was in the field awaiting action"; "he served in the Vietnam theater for three years" [syn: field]
Main Entry: the·ater Variant: orthe·atre/'thE-&t-&r/ Function: noun 1: a room often with rising tiers of
seats for assemblies (as for lectures or surgical demonstrations) 2usu theatre, British: a hospital operating room
Am`phi*the"a*ter\, Amphitheatre \Am`phi*the"a*tre\,, n. [L. amphitheatrum, fr. Gr. ?; ? + ? theater: cf. F. amphith['e][^a]tre. See Theater.]1. An oval or circular building with rising tiers of seats about an open space called the arena. Note: The Romans first constructed amphitheaters for combats of gladiators and wild beasts. 2. Anything resembling an amphitheater in form; as, a level surrounded by rising slopes or hills, or a rising gallery in a theater.
The"a*ter\, Theatre \The"a*tre\, n. [F. th['e][^a]tre, L. theatrum, Gr. ?, fr. ? to see, view; cf. Skr. dhy[=a] to meditate, think. Cf. Theory.]1. An edifice in which dramatic performances or spectacles are exhibited for the amusement of spectators; anciently uncovered, except the stage, but in modern times roofed. 2. Any room adapted to the exhibition of any performances before an assembly, as public lectures, scholastic exercises, anatomical demonstrations, surgical operations, etc. 3. That which resembles a theater in form, use, or the like; a place rising by steps or gradations, like the seats of a theater. --Burns. Shade above shade, a woody theater Of stateliest view. --Milton. 4. A sphere or scheme of operation. [Obs.] For if a man can be partaker of God's theater, he shall likewise be partaker of God's rest. --Bacon. 5. A place or region where great events are enacted; as, the theater of war.
The"o*ry\, n.; pl. Theories. [F. th['e]orie, L. theoria, Gr. ? a beholding, spectacle, contemplation, speculation, fr. ? a spectator, ? to see, view. See Theater.]1. A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice; hypothesis; speculation. Note: "This word is employed by English writers in a very loose and improper sense. It is with them usually convertible into hypothesis, and hypothesis is commonly used as another term for conjecture. The terms theory and theoretical are properly used in opposition to the terms practice and practical. In this sense, they were exclusively employed by the ancients; and in this sense, they are almost exclusively employed by the Continental philosophers." --Sir W. Hamilton. 2. An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any science; as, the theory of music. 3. The science, as distinguished from the art; as, the theory and practice of medicine. 4. The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as, Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments. Atomic theory, Binary theory, etc. See under Atomic, Binary, etc. Syn: Hypothesis, speculation. Usage: Theory, Hypothesis. A theory is a scheme of the relations subsisting between the parts of a systematic whole; an hypothesis is a tentative conjecture respecting a cause of phenomena.
![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
Audio Help [thee-uh-ter, theeuh
