theatre

Other forms: theatres

A theatre is the place where plays are performed, especially in England, because the normal American spelling of theatre is theater. If you're looking for a night of drama and astonishment, try going to the theatre.

Theatre comes from the Ancient Greek theatron, which means a place for showing, or performing. Now we call the place and the stuff performed the same thing. There are theatres where other things happen than plays. A theatre of war is the area in which a war is taking place. If you're fascinated by war but don't have the nerve to be a soldier, why not make theatre about war?

Definitions of theatre

1. noun

   a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented
   synonyms: house, theater

   types:

   arena theater, theater in the round

   a theater arranged with seats around at least three sides of the stage

   cinema, movie house, movie theater, movie theatre, picture palace

   a theater where films are shown

   dinner theater, dinner theatre

   a theater at which dinner is included in the price of admission

   home theater, home theatre

   television and video equipment designed to reproduce in the home the experience of being in a movie theater

   little theater, little theatre

   a small theater for experimental drama or collegiate or community groups

   music hall, vaudeville theater, vaudeville theatre

   a theater in which vaudeville is staged

   opera, opera house

   a building where musical dramas are performed

   bioscope

   a South African movie theater

   fleapit

   an old shabby movie theater

   multiplex

   a movie theater than has several different auditoriums in the same building

   type of:

   building, edifice

   a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
2. noun

   the art of writing and producing plays
   synonyms: dramatic art, dramatics, dramaturgy, theater

   types:

   stage

   the theater as a profession (usually `the stage')

   type of:

   communicating, communication

   the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information
3. noun

   a region in which active military operations are in progress
   synonyms: field, field of operations, theater, theater of operations, theatre of operations

   type of:

   region

   a large indefinite location on the surface of the Earth