theatre

English Online Dictionary. What means theatre‎? What does theatre mean?

English

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, watch, observe”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈθiː.ə.tə/, /ˈθɪə.tə/, (somewhat dated) /θiˈɛt.ə/, (obsolete) /θiˈeɪ.tə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, [ˈθi(ə)ɾɚ], (sometimes) /ˈθɪə.tɚ/
• (Canada, Southern US) IPA^(key): /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, /ˈθi.eɪ.tɚ/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈθiətə/, [ˈθiə̯tɜ], [ˈθiə̯ɾɜ]
• Rhymes: (US, Canada, Southern American English) -iːtə(ɹ), -iːətə(ɹ), (UK, somewhat dated) -ɛtə
• Hyphenation: thea‧tre, the‧a‧tre

Noun

theatre (countable and uncountable, plural theatres)

1. (chiefly Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK) Alternative spelling of theater
2. (Canada, rarely Australia and New Zealand) A cinema; movie theatre.

Usage notes

• The spelling theatre is the main spelling in British English, with theater being rare.
• The spelling theater is the predominant American spelling; it accounts for about 80% of usage in COCA (the major corpus of American English). People who work in the theatre industry in the United States, however, usually use the spelling "theatre", especially when writing about the art-form while retaining "theater" to write about the location. The spelling is also used often in advertising.

Derived terms

• theatre organ

Translations

Anagrams

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

Middle English

Noun

theatre

1. Alternative form of theater

Middle French

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

theatre m (plural theatres)

1. theatre

Old French

Noun

theatre oblique singular, m (oblique plural theatres, nominative singular theatres, nominative plural theatre)

1. Alternative form of teatre