theatre English · revision 4690

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374|origins=grc θέατρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈθɪə.tə/, /θiˈet.ə/, US /ˈθiː.ə.t̬ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|theatre]], [[bor|fro|theatre]], and directly from [[la|theātrum|t=playhouse, theatre; stage; spectators]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|θέατρον|tr=théātron|t=place for viewing]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from theâsthai “to behold”, from théā “a view”, with the suffix -tron denoting a place.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart traces it to PIE *dhāu-, relating it to thaûma “marvel”,^(Barnhart 1988) but Beekes considers théā Pre-Greek, without Indo-European cognates.^(Etymonline) The spelling theater was usual from about 1550 to about 1700 and was kept in the United States, while British English returned to theatre.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In ancient Greece and Rome, an open-air place for viewing plays and spectacles: about 1374–1380 in the OED and Barnhart, in Chaucer's Boethius.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) In Ælfric's Old English vocabulary, Latin theatrum was rendered wafungstede “a place for sights”, which suggests the Anglo-Saxons had no such thing.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A building for performing plays is from 1577.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) A place of action or scene of events, as in ''theatre of war'', is found as early as 1581.^(Barnhart 1988) Drama as an art, or as an institution, is from 1668, in Dryden.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) A room with tiers of seats for lectures, and later for surgery, is from the 17th century: the ''operating theatre'' is from the 1660s, named because early operating rooms had banks of seats for observers.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) In North America and New Zealand theatre also means a cinema (1923).^(OED 1989) ''Theatrical'' is from 1558.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – an ancient open-air theatre.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1558 – ''theatrical''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1577 – a playhouse.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1581 – a scene of action.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1660s – an operating theatre.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1668 – drama as an art.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1923 – a cinema.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A building or outdoor area where plays and other shows are performed.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The writing, production and acting of plays; [[drama]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British)'' A room in a hospital where operations are done; an [[operating theatre]].^(Collins 2023)

+ # A room with rows of raised seats for lectures.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An area where important events, especially fighting, take place: ''a theatre of war''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(US, Australia)'' A [[cinema]].^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[theater]]

+ * [[theatrical]]

+ * [[theory]]

+ * [[amphitheatre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Theatre is the usual British spelling and theater the usual American one, though some American theatres use the -re spelling in their names.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}