teatro

Forms

teatro m (plural teatros, diminutive teatrillo or teatrito)^[1] The Latinising spelling theatro is common from Alfonso X's General Estoria and Fernández de Heredia to the Diccionario de Autoridades.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin theatrum (“theatre”), from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “place for seeing; theatre”), a derivative of θεάομαι (theáomai, “to watch, contemplate”).^[4][5][6][1] The Greek noun is formed with the suffix -τρον (-tron), which makes nouns of places and instruments.^[7][8] The Greek verb is usually compared with words from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyh₂-, while Beekes takes it and its relatives as Pre-Greek.^[9]

From the same root come teoría, teórico and teorema, through θεωρέω (theōréō, “to look at, examine”).^[4][5]

The same Latin word is Portuguese teatro, Catalan teatre, French théâtre and Italian teatro.^{[10][11][12][1]} Catalan first used the half-Latin form teatro, recorded from 1507, and the modern form only spread in the 19th century.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is in Alfonso X's Estoria de España (c. 1270), of a building in ancient Rome: ouieron acuerdo de fazer un teatro de canto taiado muy grand “they agreed to build a very large theatre of hewn stone”.^[2] The same work explains the word: the princes of Rome built un corral grand redondo a que llamauan en latin teatro “a great round enclosure which they called in Latin teatro”, and jesters sang and performed in such theatres.^[13] Corominas dates the first record about 1275.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages the word named the theatres of antiquity: Fernández de Heredia glosses it theatro o miradero de piedra “theatre or stone viewing place”, and Nebrija's vocabulary has teatro do hazían juegos “theatre where they held games”.^[2][4] Covarrubias (1611) derived it from the Greek verb “to see”, as a place where people came to watch games and spectacles.^[14] The Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as the semicircular place where the people gathered to watch a spectacle, and adds the audience, a university hall and the decorated part of the stage.^[3]

The Academy added the body of plays of a nation (1817), the figurative teatro del mundo (1817), the stage and the actor's practice (tiene mucho teatro, 1843), and in 1884 the place where something is done before many people.^[15][16][17] The DLE now adds dramatic literature, the art of writing and staging plays, and feigned, exaggerated behaviour.^[6] In Panama, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Colombia teatro is also a cinema.^[18]

Timeline

• c. 1270 – Alfonso X's Estoria de España describes a Roman theatre.^[2][13]
• c. 1275 – Corominas's first date.^[4][5]
• 1376–1396 – Fernández de Heredia's Orosius has theatro o miradero de piedra.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija: teatro do hazían juegos.^[4]
• 1560 – first record in the Americas: stone teatros in Yucatán where farces were performed.^[19]
• 1611 – Covarrubias explains the word from the Greek verb “to see”.^[14]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades, under the spelling theatro.^[3]
• 1817 – the Academy adds the body of a nation's plays and el teatro del mundo.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology, from Latin theatrum and Greek.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. A theatre: a building or place for the performance of plays or other stage shows.^[6][1]
2. A place where something is done before spectators or participants.^[6]
3. The stage.^[6]
4. The scene of notable events: Esta costa fue teatro de varios naufragios.^[6][1]
5. The plays of a people, a period or an author: el teatro de Lorca.^[6][20]
6. Drama, dramatic literature.^[6][1]
7. The art of writing or performing plays: Estudia teatro en Buenos Aires.^[6][20]
8. Feigned, exaggerated behaviour, theatrics: Deja de hacer teatro.^[6][1]
9. (rare) Experience in acting.^[6]
10. (Panama, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Colombia) A cinema.^[18][1]

Word family

• teatral
• teatralidad
• teatralizar
• teatralización
• teatrero
• teatrillo

Related words

• anfiteatro
• teoría
• teorema
• Latin theatrum
• Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron)

Usage notes

Set phrases include teatro de autor, theatre that stresses the written text, and teatro de bolsillo, theatre in small halls.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. teatro
3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 267
4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 445
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. teatro
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. teatro
7. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 674
8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. θέατρον
9. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. θεάομαι
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. teatro
11. ^ a b Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 8, 364
12. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. théâtre
13. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. teatro
14. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1322
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 832
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 691
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 1012
18. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. teatro
19. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. teatro
20. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. teatro