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definitions

theme

[theem]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR theme ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

adjective

having a unifying theme: a theme restaurant decorated like a spaceship.

verb (used with object), themed, them·ing.

to provide with a theme.

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RELATED WORDS

thought, motif, point, text, question, argument, topic, matter, stuff, problem, line, subject, description, case, affair, head, thesis, business, keynote, motive

Origin of theme

1250–1300; Middle English teme, theme (< Old French teme) < Medieval Latin thema, Latin < Greek théma proposition, deposit, akin to tithénai to put, set down
Related formstheme·less, adjectivesub·theme, noun

Synonyms for theme

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR theme ON THESAURUS.COM
1. thesis, text. See subject. 3. paper.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for theme

Contemporary Examples of theme

Historical Examples of theme

  • I recur to it here as a plausible suggestion only, in connection with my theme.

    'Tis Sixty Years Since

    Charles Francis Adams

  • The theme was the same as that of Mr. Gladstone's letter, to which it was regarded as an answer.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • A subject was offered him, in which no other poet would have found a theme for the Muse.

    Biographical Sketches

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • At the present moment it is to me the only theme worthy of a man's entire attention.

  • His eyes shone, and his face flushed with the fervor of his theme.

British Dictionary definitions for theme

theme

noun

an idea or topic expanded in a discourse, discussion, etc
(in literature, music, art, etc) a unifying idea, image, or motif, repeated or developed throughout a work
music a group of notes forming a recognizable melodic unit, often used as the basis of the musical material in a composition
a short essay, esp one set as an exercise for a student
linguistics the first major constituent of a sentence, usually but not necessarily the subject. In the sentence history I do like, "history" is the theme of the sentence, even though it is the object of the verb
grammar another word for root 1 (def. 9), stem 1 (def. 9)
(in the Byzantine Empire) a territorial unit consisting of several provinces under a military commander
(modifier) planned or designed round one unifying subject, image, etca theme holiday

verb

(tr) to design, decorate, arrange, etc, in accordance with a theme
Derived Formsthemeless, adjective

Word Origin for theme

C13: from Latin thema, from Greek: deposit, from tithenai to lay down
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for theme
n.

c.1300, from Old French tesme (13c., with silent -s-), from Latin thema "a subject, thesis," from Greek thema "a proposition, subject, deposit," literally "something set down," from root of tithenai "put down, place," from PIE root *dhe- "to put, to do" (see factitious). Extension to music first recorded 1670s; theme song first attested 1929. Theme park is from 1960.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Culture definitions for theme

theme

A central idea in a piece of writing or other work of art: “The theme of desperation is found throughout his novels.” Also a short composition assigned to a student as a writing exercise.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.