Theater

Forms

Theater n (genitive Theaters, plural Theater)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin theātrum (“place for shows, theatre; the audience”), taken over in the early 16th century and at first inflected as Latin; the Germanized form appears in the middle of the 17th century, probably under the influence of French théâtre, and prevailed in the 18th.^[2][3][4] Kluge instead dates the word to the 17th century and derives it directly from the French word.^[5]

The Latin noun is from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “place for viewing, theatre”), from θεάομαι (theáomai, “to look at, watch”), whose base is θέα (théā, “a viewing, sight, spectacle”).^[5][2][1] The same base appears in the Greek word for “spectator” behind Theorie.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, of 1531, explains the Latin word: Theatrum was ein schawplatz gestaltet wie ein halber zirckel “a theatrum was a viewing place shaped like a half circle”.^[3][6] The first sense was a stage or arena for shows of every kind.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From “stage” the word went on to the building for regular performances of plays and operas, the institution and its company, the performance itself and the art of the stage as a whole.^[3][6] It was often used figuratively for the scene of events, as in a text of 1617 calling war a Theatrum vn Schawplatz der Ehren “theatre and stage of honours”, and in theatrum mundi “the theatre of the world”.^[6][3]

In the 18th century Lessing made the theatre “the school of the moral world”, and the stage became bound up with the idea of a national culture, as in the call for a Nationaltheater.^[6] From the 1920s Brecht opposed his episches Theater to the Aristotelian kind.^[6] Since the early 20th century the word is also used for a fuss or to-do.^[2] The adjective theatralisch (18th century) follows Latin theātrālis.^[2][4] Czech tyátr and Slovak teáter “theatre, comedy” were borrowed from German.^[7]

Timeline

• 1531 – First record, in Latin form, of Theatrum.^[3][6]
• 1617 – Figurative use for a scene of events.^[6]
• Mid-17th century – The Germanized form Theater appears.^[2][3]
• 18th century – Theater prevails over Theatrum;^[2] theatralisch is first recorded.^[2]
• 1766 – A collection is titled Theater der Deutschen.^[6]
• Early 20th century – Colloquial sense “fuss, to-do”.^[2]
• 1920s – Brecht's episches Theater.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A theatre, a building for staging plays and operas.^[8][1]
2. The theatre as a cultural institution: zum Theater gehen “to become an actor”.^[8]
3. A performance in the theatre: Nach dem Theater gingen wir essen.^[8][1]
4. The audience in a theatre.^[8][1]
5. A theatre company.^[8][1]
6. The dramatic art of a people or period: das antike Theater, episches Theater.^[8]
7. (colloquial, derogatory) A fuss, commotion;^[8][1] Theater spielen “to put on an act”, jemandem Theater vormachen “to make a show for someone”.^[8][1]

Word family

• theatralisch
• Nationaltheater

Related words

• Theorie
• English theatre

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
4. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
5. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 915
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
7. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag