proscenium
Americannoun
plural
proscenia-
Also called proscenium arch. the arch that separates a stage from the auditorium. pros.
-
(formerly) the apron or, especially in ancient theater, the stage itself.
noun
-
the arch or opening separating the stage from the auditorium together with the area immediately in front of the arch
-
(in ancient theatres) the stage itself
Etymology
Origin of proscenium
1600–10; < Latin proscēnium, proscaenium < Greek proskḗnion entrance to a tent, porch, stage ( Late Greek: stage curtain), equivalent to pro- pro- 2 + skēn ( ḗ ) ( scene ) + -ion neuter noun suffix
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.
The fourth wall, encoded in the architecture of the proscenium stage, fosters the illusion that audiences are eavesdropping on a cordoned off reality.
From Los Angeles Times
The centerpiece of Chicago’s wildly successful Millennium Park, the bandshell’s billowing 120-foot proscenium, supported by a web of aluminum arms, is fronted by dozens of torqued stainless steel ribbons, which exuberantly frame the stage.
From Los Angeles Times
Director Nancy Medina’s staging, circumnavigating a theatrical circle, lifts the audience out of its proscenium passivity into something almost immersive and definitely interactive.
From Los Angeles Times
None of the proscenium is actually there, nor are the musicians heard running scales and rehearsing “Follow the Yellow Brick Road.”
From Los Angeles Times
"The story and the music itself was great for the Harris Theater, and honestly might have been dwarfed by this big gold proscenium with 3,500 seats."
From Salon
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.
