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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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."
Vocabulary lists containing cinema
And the Oscar Goes to... Award-worthy Words
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Academy Awards, List 6
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for July 17–July 23, 2021
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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.
See Examples For:
The Telegraph declared The Odyssey the "film of the year", while Metro added that the movie would "change cinema forever".
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
"They each have a bowl of popcorn and treats and we move the sofas into two rows so it's like a cinema."
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Having spent the better part of the past decade making streaming series — “Too Old to Die Young” for Amazon and “Copenhagen Cowboy” for Netflix — Refn has once again returned to cinema.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
By being both uniquely pertinent and terrifying, it’s fair to say that “The Exorcist” is not just a horror classic, but an all-time classic in the history of cinema.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Boaz, the handsome nerd who could not show up on time if his life depended on it, knew something she did not, in her cinema.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
While packing cinemas around the world, "The Odyssey" has generated public debate and criticism.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Paramount insists viewers will benefit, vowing to release 30 films in cinemas every year – doubling its current turnout.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
His favorite parts of the city are its repertory cinemas and lush neighborhoods like Mount Washington, where his godfather resides, because they look the most like Vancouver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
The Odyssey is in cinemas from Friday 17 July.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
I could feel the cool air as I walked by the entrances of the more expensive cinemas, but here I was in the middle of it.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
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.
