cinema

American  

[sin-uh-muh] / ˈsɪn ə mə /

noun

• cinemas
  plural

1. movies collectively, as an art.

   During the Great Depression, cinema provided psychological comfort, an escape from the harsh realities of daily life.

2. Chiefly British. Also kinema movie theater.

   Do you know if there is a cinema near the British Museum?

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cinema British  

/ ˈsɪnɪmə /

noun

1. 1. a place designed for the exhibition of films

   2. ( as modifier )

      a cinema seat

2. 1. the art or business of making films

   2. films collectively

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cinematic
  adjective
• cinematically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cinemas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cinema

First recorded in 1895–1900; short for cinematograph

Explanation

A cinema is another word for a movie theater. If you love films, you probably spend a lot of time at the cinema. It's more common to say cinema in Britain than in the United States, but any English speaker will know what you're talking about if you ask, "Want to go to the cinema?" You can also use cinema to talk about the film industry and its history: "This is my favorite film in all of American cinema." The word was first used in 1899, from the French cinéma, which was a shortened form of cinématographe, "motion picture projector and camera."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cinema cinemas

Skydance-owned Paramount Pictures has taken over the lease for the Bay Theater in Pacific Palisades and intends to reopen the cinema, which has been closed since the January 2025 Palisades fire last year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

An exhibition at New York’s Bard Graduate Center showcases fashion’s essential, energizing role in the emergence of cinema as an art form.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

But she lives on in cinema, thanks to the 1985 landmark queer Mexican film “Doña Herlinda and Her Son,” by director Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, where she played the titular Doña Herlinda.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

“Fjord” exemplifies a particularly vital strain of cinema, the kind that peers into reality and finds horror just beneath the surface.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Irela wanted to go to the cinema too, but was afraid to ask.

From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty

Many of the theaters, cinemas and concert halls that once pumped life into the capital have shuttered or drastically reduced their offerings.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

As Disney's $71bn buyout of 21st Century Fox in 2019 proved, mega-deals can lead to fewer films in cinemas.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

The peeling facades, faded signs and cavernous auditoriums of such cinemas are remnants of a time when going to the movies was itself the main event.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

Some of the old cinemas have been restored and renovated, and the single-screen experience still has its devotees.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

I am sure my mother did without cinemas and all sorts of other things in order to buy it for me.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall

Related Words

• film
• movie house
• movie theater