What is Theater?
The theater is an American language word. According to Merriam-Webster, the word ‘theater’ is derived from a french word that came to the English language.
A theater is a place where different artists do live performances. It is a place in which plays and other dramatic performances are given. It is a hall or a room for lectures and seats in tiers.
In America, a movie theater is a cinema hall, movie house, picture house, picture theater, or the silver screen. It is a building with an auditorium for watching films.
Not all theaters are commercial. However, a few theaters are operated by non-profit organizations or societies which charge a membership fee for viewing films.
A great variety of films are played in the cinemas ranging from animated to blockbusters. Besides this, small movie theaters have a single screen, while complex and large movie theaters have more than one screen.
If you are a writer and writing literature for Americans, you must use the word theater which is preferred in America. This word is uncommon.
What is Theatre?
Theatre is the most common word used in the English language for cinemas for movie halls. It is a word taken from British English.
The word theatre is taken from the greek word theatron, meaning a place for viewing, watching, or observing.
But according to English vocabulary, and as a writer, you must write theatre for the British as they prefer theatre instead of theater.
Word theatre also has the same meaning as theater. Both are the same words. A theatre is a form of performing art in which most artists, actors, and actresses perform their art in front of an audience for a real or imagined event live on the stage.
Further, in a theatre, performers communicate their experience to their audiences by combining their acting with different gestures, songs, music, dance, speech, etc. artists can also use their elements of art, including paintings and sceneries etc.
Difference Between Theater and Theatre
Writing about theater and theatre is challenging because it is sometimes obvious which term is preferable.
Are these merely word variations? Do they serve different purposes or have various meanings when used in a sentence?
Yes, theater or theatre are the same words and are variations of a single word, but they have different preferences according to different languages.
However, theatre is the preferred spelling of the word in British English, while theater is the preferred spelling in American English.
The majority of American use the word theater and agree with the guidelines of Garners and The AP Stylebook.
However, the theater has just recently started to emerge in American English, but some people are reluctant to accept its spelling.
Others have tried to differentiate theater and theatre, claiming that theater is a venue where plays are performed while theatre is an art form.
Comparison Between Theater and Theatre
| Parameter of Comparison | Theater | Theatre |
| Definition | It is where plays and other dramatic performances. It is a hall or a room for lectures and seats in tiers. | A theatre is a form of performing art in which most artists, actors, and actresses perform their art in front of an audience for a real or imagined event live on the stage. |
| Word taken from | It is taken from a French word. | It is taken from a greek word. |
| Language | American language prefers word theater. | British language prefers the word Theatre. |
| Usage | It is Less common in English and literature than in America. | Most common in the English language and literature in many countries. |
References
- “Movie theater definition and meaning – Collins English Dictionary”. www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ “cinema – Definition of cinema in English by Oxford Dictionaries”. Oxford Dictionaries – English. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2018.