Theatre/theater

[Lycidas at worldnet.att.net]

AHD and Websters third are probably more apt to have the
theatER the American CIA operatives use. I'll check.  


OED 2nd Edition:


theatre

theatre, 

theater

theater þi.at<e>r, sb. Forms: 4-5 teatre, 4- theatre, 5-
theater. [ad. (directly, or through OFr.) L.
theatrum, a. Gr. qeatron, a place for viewing, esp. a
theatre, f. qeasqai to behold (cf. qea sight,
view, qeathj a spectator). The word was completely
naturalized in L., whence Ital., Sp. teatro,
Pg. theatro, OFr. teatre, theatre (12-13th c.), whence perh.
the ME. forms, mod.Fr. théâtre; also
Ger., Dutch, Da. the'a.ter, Sw. te'a.ter. The earliest
recorded Eng. forms, c 1380, are theatre
and teatre; from c 1550 to 1700, or later, the prevalent
spelling was theater (so in Dictionaries
from Cawdrey to Kersey), but theatre in Holland, Milton,
Fuller, Dryden, Addison, Pope; Bailey
1721 has both, `Theatre, Theater': and between 1720 and
1750, theater was dropped in Britain,
but has been retained or (?) revived in U.S. The
pronunciation þi,ei.t<e>r, or its accentuation,
appears in Lydgate, and is still in vulgar use; 'the.ater is
found as early as 1591. ]

1. 

a. Gr. and Rom. Antiq. A place constructed in the open air,
for viewing dramatic plays or other
spectacles.

It had the form of a segment of a circle; the auditorium was
usually excavated from a hill-side,
the seats rising in tiers above and behind one another; the
orchestra, occupied by the chorus,
separated the stage from the auditorium. 

b. An amphitheatre. Obs.

 c. A natural formation or place suggesting such a
structure.

d. A circular basin of water. Obs.

2. 

a. In modern use, An edifice specially adapted to dramatic
representations; a playhouse.

Its essential parts, as in sense 1, are the stage for the
actors, and the auditorium (the latter
consisting of ranges of seats, one above another); the stage
is furnished with movable scenes and
more or less elaborate stage machinery for their production
and removal. In 16-17th c. the
building was only partially roofed; it is now entirely under
cover. 

At first apparently the proper name of a particular
playhouse in Shoreditch, outside the City of
London, built 1576: see Arber, Gosson's Schoole of Abuse,
Introd. 8, and early quots.

patent theatre, a theatre established or licensed by royal
letters patent (the first two of which
were granted in 1603). Their exclusive privileges were
abolished in 1843. 

saloon theatre (obs. exc. Hist.), 

variety theatre: see quots. 1892, 1902. 

picture theatre, a hall in which cinema films are shown, a
`picture palace'.

b. N. Amer. and N.Z. A picture theatre, cinema. 

a. The stage or platform on which a play is acted. 

b. A theatreful of spectators; the audience, or `house', at
a theatre. (Cf. house sb. 4 g.)

c. Dramatic performances as a branch of art, or as an
institution; the drama. Also, the drama of a
particular time or place; dramatic art as a craft, the
theatrical profession. 
b. Phrases: 

theatre-in-the-round: see round sb.1 5 d; 

Theatre of Cruelty tr. F. théâtre de la cruauté (A. Artaud
(1932) Manifeste du théâtre de la
cruauté), a collective term for plays in which the dramatist
seeks to communicate a sense of
pain, suffering, and evil through the portrayal of extreme
physical violence; 

Theatre of the Absurd, a collective term for plays (chiefly
French) portraying the futility and
anguish of man's struggle in a senseless and inexplicable
world (cf. absurd sb.); also fig.; 

Theatre of Fact, documentary drama.

d. Dramatic works collectively.


e. Without article or pl. (chiefly predicatively). With a
descriptive adjective: theatrical or
dramatic entertainment (of a specified quality); esp. in 

good theatre (see good a. 1 f); also used transf. of an
action or work of art that has the quality
of (good, etc.) drama or theatrical technique; hence fig.,
dramatic effect or sensation, spectacle,
outward show without serious inward intent.


4. A temporary platform, dais, or other raised stage, for
any public ceremony.


b. A room in a hospital specially designed for surgical
operations (orig. one resembling a
theatre, for the performance of such operations before
observers); = operating-theatre s.v.
operating vbl. sb. b.

relation to a course of action
performed or a spectacle displayed; esp. a place or region
where some thing or action is
presented to public view (literally or metaphorically).

b. A place where some action proceeds; the scene of action.
Cf. scene, stage.

    c. A particular region or one of the separate regions of
the world in which a war is being fought.
Also 

theatre of war

7. A book giving a `view' or `conspectus' of some subject; a
text-book, manual, treatise. (Chiefly
in titles of such books.) 

8. transf. A thing displayed to view; a sight, scene,
spectacle; a gazing-stock.

 b. Special combs.: theatre club, a theatre for which
tickets are sold only to members (esp. in
order to circumvent the censorship of public performances);
theatre-floor: see quot.;
theatre-goer, one who frequents theatres; so theatre-going
sb. and adj.; theatre-land, the
district of a town (spec. of London) in which most of the
theatres are situated; theatre-list Med.,
a list of patients about to undergo surgical operations;
theatre nurse Med., a hospital nurse
qualified to assist in the operating theatre; theatre organ
= cinema organ s.v. cinema c; hence
theatre organist; theatre party (orig. U.S.), a party in
which the guests, besides being
entertained at dinner or supper, are taken to a theatre;
theatre-restaurant, a restaurant where
theatrical entertainment is provided for customers; theatre
seat, 

a. a seat of which the bottom is made to fold back when not
occupied, so as to leave a wider
passage; a tip-up seat used in theatres, also on tram-cars,
etc.; 

b. a seat that may be booked for a performance at a theatre;
theatre sister Med., in a hospital,
nursing-home, etc., a sister qualified to assist in the
operating theatre; theatre suit Fashion (see
quot. 1969); theatre workshop, a non-commercial theatre
company concerned esp. with
experimental and unconventional theatrical productions;
orig. and spec. a company founded by
Joan Littlewood and others in 1945 and based in the East End
of London from 1953 to 1973.

 

c. attrib. Designating nuclear weapons for use within a
`theatre' (at present thought of as Europe)
as opp. to intercontinental or strategic weapons (cf.
strategic a. 2), or their targets.

    1977 Observer 3 Apr. 12/4 In a tactical role,
Backfire..is ideally suited to attacking local or
    `theatre' targets in Western Europe. 

    1978 Orbis XXII. 309 The United States has deployed a
varied array of theater-nuclear
    weapons and delivery systems in Europe. 

    1980 Daily Tel. 18 June 1/2 Theatre nuclear
missiles..have a longer range than battlefield
    weapons but cannot be fired as far as inter-continental
missiles. 

    1983 Chicago Sun-Times 26 Nov. 5/2 `What worries us is
the buildup of theater nuclear
    forces in Europe,' Defense Undersecretary Fred C. Ikle
said.

Hence 'theatre v., intr. to go to the theatre; 'theatredom,
the domain or sphere of things
theatrical and persons connected therewith; also, the
district in which theatres are situated;
'theatreful, as many as a theatre will hold; 'theatreless
a., without a theatre or theatrical
entertainments; 'theatrewards adv., towards a theatre;
'theatre-wise adv., in the manner of a
theatre.