repertory
Americannoun
plural
repertories-
a type of theatrical presentation in which a company presents several works regularly or in alternate sequence in one season.
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Also called repertory company. Also called repertory theater,. a theatrical company that presents productions in this manner.
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a store or stock of things available.
noun
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the entire stock of things available in a field or of a kind; repertoire
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a building or place where a stock of things is kept; repository
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short for repertory company
Other Word Forms
- repertorial adjective
Etymology
Origin of repertory
1545–55; < Late Latin repertōrium inventory, equivalent to Latin reper ( īre ) to discover, find, make up ( re- re- + -perīre, combining form of parere to bring forth, produce) + -tōrium -tory 2
Explanation
A repertory is a collection of pieces that are ready to be performed, like a theater's repertory of plays or a singer's repertory of songs. The word repertory is very similar to the related repertoire, and they share the Late Latin root repertorium, "inventory or list." The French repertoire is generally more common, meaning "full range of what you can do." Repertory is more likely to specifically mean a theater or company of actors with a regularly performed repertoire of plays.
Vocabulary lists containing repertory
The Great Gilly Hopkins
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Theater - Middle School
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Theater - High School
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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.
It became one of the first L.A.-based dance companies to adopt the repertory model similar to Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Alvin Ailey Dance Theater.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026
It enters NYCB’s repertory as the troupe’s 500th creation and as something of a rarity among its catalog of world premieres, which overwhelmingly take their inspiration from their chosen music, as Mr. Peck’s does.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
There are special repertory screenings of classic movies and parties built around new releases.
From Salon • Dec. 18, 2025
He became a fan and friend of a young Peter O’Toole, then in repertory at the Bristol Old Vic, and grew enamored with the theater world.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025
The story is well known in various versions, and a “habben” play based on it is in the repertory of traveling players east of the Kargav.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.
