| / English Dictionary |
THEME
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work
Example:
it was the usual 'boy gets girl' theme
Synonyms:
motif; theme
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("theme" is a kind of...):
idea; thought (the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "theme"):
topos (a traditional theme or motif or literary convention)
Derivation:
thematic (relating to or constituting a topic of discourse)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
Example:
thematic vowels are part of the stem
Synonyms:
base; radical; root; root word; stem; theme
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("theme" is a kind of...):
descriptor; form; signifier; word form (the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something)
Domain category:
linguistics (the scientific study of language)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An essay (especially one written as an assignment)
Example:
he got an A on his composition
Synonyms:
composition; paper; report; theme
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("theme" is a kind of...):
essay (an analytic or interpretive literary composition)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "theme"):
term paper (a composition intended to indicate a student's progress during a school term)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The subject matter of a conversation or discussion
Example:
his letters were always on the theme of love
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("theme" is a kind of...):
content; message; subject matter; substance (what a communication that is about something is about)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "theme"):
bone of contention (the subject of a dispute)
precedent (a subject mentioned earlier (preceding in time))
head; question (the subject matter at issue)
keynote (the principal theme in a speech or literary work)
Derivation:
thematic (relating to or constituting a topic of discourse)
Sense 5
Meaning:
(music) melodic subject of a musical composition
Example:
the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it
Synonyms:
idea; melodic theme; musical theme; theme
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("theme" is a kind of...):
air; line; melodic line; melodic phrase; melody; strain; tune (a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence)
Domain category:
music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "theme"):
motif; motive (a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music)
statement ((music) the presentation of a musical theme)
variation (a repetition of a musical theme in which it is modified or embellished)
Derivation:
thematic (of or relating to a melodic subject)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Provide with a particular theme or motive
Example:
the restaurant often themes its menus
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "theme" is one way to...):
furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Context examples:
A subtype of delusional disorder applied when no one delusional theme (such as grandiose, jealous, persecutory) predominates.
(Mixed Type Delusional Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)
A subtype of delusional disorder characterized by the central delusional theme that the individual has special worth, power, knowledge, or a special relationship to a famous person or deity.
(Grandiose Type Delusional Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)
A subtype of delusional disorder characterized by the central delusional theme that the individual is being malevolently treated (for example, maligned, harassed, conspired against, poisoned or drugged) by another person or group.
(Persecutory Type Delusional Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)
The busy stage of life, the virtues of heroes, and the actions of men were his theme; and his hope and his dream was to become one among those whose names are recorded in story as the gallant and adventurous benefactors of our species.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
He had seen too much of life, and his mind was too matured, to be wholly content with fractions, cube root, parsing, and analysis; and there were times when their conversation turned on other themes—the last poetry he had read, the latest poet she had studied.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
My reflections on this theme were still in progress when dinner was announced.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
It will again emphasize the theme of November—travel and your superb ability to communicate effectively, something people around you are starting to recognize in you.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
And do you like that monotonous theme?
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Susan, who had an innate taste for the genteel and well-appointed, was eager to hear, and Fanny could not but indulge herself in dwelling on so beloved a theme.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
If I do, or if I even open this again, it will be to deal with different people and different themes; for here at the end, where the romance of my life is told, ere I go back to take up the thread of my life-work, I say sadly and without hope, FINIS.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
