theater

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A building where plays or films are shown.

   We sat in the back row of the theater and watched the show.

2. 2
   noun

   The activity or art of writing and performing plays.

   I worked in theater for twenty-five years.

3. 3
   noun

   An area where a war or military action takes place.

   His grandfather served in the Pacific theater during the war.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Theatre entered English in the late Middle English period and ultimately goes back to Greek theasthai, “to look at.” Its surgical sense arose in the 1660s because early operating rooms resembled theatres, with tiers of seats for observers.

Inherited from Middle English theater, theatre, from Old French theatre, from Latin theātrum, from Ancient Greek θέᾱτρον (théātron, “a place for viewing”), from θεᾰ́ομαι (theắomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”). Doublet of tiatr.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary