theatre

See also: théatre and théâtre

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English theater, theatre, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French theatre, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin theatrum, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”), from θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”).

Pronunciation

• like theater

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• Hyphenation: thea‧tre
• Hyphenation: the‧a‧tre

Noun

theatre (countable and uncountable, plural theatres)

1. (chiefly Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK) Alternative spelling of theater
   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎^[1]:

     Mother […] considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.

   • 2012 May 13, Phil McNulty, “Man City 3-2 QPR”, in BBC Sport:

     City's players and supporters travelled from one end of the emotional scale to the other in those vital seconds, providing a truly remarkable piece of football theatre and the most dramatic conclusion to a season in Premier League history.

Usage notes

• The spelling theatre is the main spelling in Commonwealth 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 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.

Translations

theater — see theater

Anagrams

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

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Middle English

Noun

theatre

1. Alternative form of theater

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Middle French

Noun

theatre m (plural theatres)

1. theatre

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Old French

Noun

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

1. Alternative form of teatre