theater definition

English theater definition

Alternative forms

• theatre (standard spelling in all English-speaking countries that use British spelling)

Etymology

From Middle English theater, theatre, from Old French theatre, from Latin theatrum, from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”), from θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”). Doublet of tiatr.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, (sometimes) /ˈθɪə.tɚ/, [ˈθi(ə)ɾɚ]

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (Canada, Southern American English) IPA^(key): /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, /ˈθi.eɪ.tɚ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈθiː.ə.tə/, /ˈθɪə.tə/, (somewhat dated) /θiˈɛt.ə/, (obsolete) /θiˈeɪ.tə/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈθiətə/, [ˈθiə̯tɜ], [ˈθiə̯ɾɜ]

Noun

theater (countable and uncountable, plural theaters) (American spelling)

1. A place or building, consisting of a stage and seating, in which an audience gathers to watch plays, musical performances, public ceremonies, and so on.
2. A region where a particular action takes place; a specific field of action, usually with reference to war.
   • 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 69:

     Percy had been too big for the town since he got back from the war. He served in the Pacific theater, behind the lines keeping up the supply chain.

   His grandfather was in the Pacific theater during the war.

3. A lecture theatre.
4. (medicine) An operating theatre or locale for human experimentation.

   This man is about to die, get him into theater at once!

5. (US) A cinema.

   We sat in the back row of the theater and threw popcorn at the screen.

6. Drama or performance as a profession or art form.

   I worked in theater for twenty-five years.

7. Any place rising by steps like the seats of a theater.

Usage notes

• The spelling theatre is the main spelling in British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand English, with theater being rare.
• In United States English, theater accounts for about 80 percent of usage in the major corpus of usage, COCA.
• Among American theatre professionals, there is some usage of the two spellings in order to differentiate between the location theater (as in definitions 1–5) and the art-form theatre (definition 6). A variant of this differentiation is the usage of theatre for things relating to live performances (as in definitions 1 and 6) with theater being used for all other uses.

Synonyms

• fabulous invalid
• playhouse

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of theatre

Anagrams

• hat tree, hattree, teareth, tethera, theatre, thereat

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Dutch theater definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French théâtre, from Old French theatre, from Latin theatrum, from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”), from θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teːˈ(j)aːtər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: the‧a‧ter
• Rhymes: -aːtər

Noun

theater n (plural theaters, diminutive theatertje n)

1. theater (US), theatre (Commonwealth): either drama, the art form, or a drama theater (building)

Synonyms

• schouwburg

Derived terms

• danstheater
• theaterkunst
• volkstheater

Descendants

• Afrikaans: teater
• → Caribbean Javanese: téater
• → Indonesian: teater

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Middle English theater definition

Alternative forms

• theatre, teatre, theatyr, theatere

Etymology

From Old French theatre, from Latin theatrum, from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛːatər/, /ˌtɛːˈaːtər/

Noun

theater

1. A theatre open to the sky; an amphitheatre.
2. Any stage which plays and performances take place at.
3. (rare) A whorehouse.

Descendants

• English: theater, theatre
• Scots: theatre

References

• “thē̆ā̆tre, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-19.