cinema
Americannoun
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movies collectively, as an art.
During the Great Depression, cinema provided psychological comfort, an escape from the harsh realities of daily life.
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Chiefly British. Also kinema movie theater.
Do you know if there is a cinema near the British Museum?
noun
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a place designed for the exhibition of films
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( as modifier )
a cinema seat
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the art or business of making films
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films collectively
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Other Word Forms
- cinematic adjective
- cinematically adverb
Etymology
Origin of cinema
First recorded in 1895–1900; short for cinematograph
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
More than 100 images spanning three centuries have an extraordinary range that document the city in its full diversity from the elite worlds of Zoroastrian merchants and cinema stars to working-class lives of ordinary citizens.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
A view from his angle is exactly what cinema needs.
From Salon • Apr. 3, 2026
Seven-year-old Chloe was among the first in the city to visit the portable dome structure in which a number of films about the universe are projected onto a huge cinema screen.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
“I think when you are making a film that is confronting one of the ultimate taboos in cinema, you’re going to have a tough time,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026
It exits the room almost frantically when we’re halfway to the cinema door.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
