1
a
: a subject or topic of discourse or of artistic representation
guilt and punishment is the theme of the story
b
: a specific and distinctive quality, characteristic, or concern
the campaign has lacked a theme
2
: a melodic subject of a musical composition or movement
Synonyms
Example Sentences
If one theme unites his scholarship it is that the Old South cannot be viewed as a monolith.
—
Eric Foner, New York Times Book Review, 8 Apr. 2007
One reiterated theme of his book is that the electoral process can be the most dangerous of delusions, tending to confer a spurious legitimacy on those most willing to corrupt it.
—Hilary Mantel, New York Review, 21 Sept. 2006
The Eve of biblical legend was a temptress, thus initiating a lamentable theme in the history of sexism.
—Stephen Jay Gould, Discover, July 1992
The quest for power is the underlying theme of the film.
A constant theme in his novels is religion.
The playwright skillfully brings together various themes.
The album focuses on themes of love and loss.
Adventures are popular themes in children’s books.
The growing deficit was a dominant theme in the election.
The party had a Hawaiian luau theme.
They played the theme from the movie “Rocky.”
See More
Recent Examples on the Web
The Avondale subdivision was named for Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare’s hometown, and the surrounding streets held to the same theme.
—Katharine Jose, Chron, 26 Mar. 2023
Three of the Gadbois teams made the top five after the rhythm dance, set this season to a Latin theme.
—Joyce Rubin, Vogue, 24 Mar. 2023
The stage shows accompanying the album releases grew increasingly elaborate, culminating in the P-Funk Earth Tour, which began in 1976, continued for several years and featured an outer-space theme, including an onstage spaceship.
—Neil Genzlinger, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2023
Wouldn’t this be cool for a show that is a blend of Broadway and television to have this climax that is a trope from Broadway — the finale — and a trope from television — the main title theme — all wrapped into one?
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 23 Mar. 2023
But another grand theme slowly emerges in these conversations: the tension between the superficial civilization of humankind and our innate barbarism.
—Michael O’sullivan, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2023
The conflation of data privacy concerns—that is, the surveillant threat posed by Beijing—and the ways in which TikTok fails its underaged users was a theme throughout the hearing, with both topics puzzlingly discussed interchangeably.
—WIRED, 23 Mar. 2023
Each night, there’ll be a different musical theme for the stage’s closing DJ.
—Journal Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2023
Each section has a specific theme, like an 1960s atomic age kitchen, a ’70s disco vibe den for Ken, and an ’80s glam bedroom.
—Brandon Livesay, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘theme.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English teme, theme, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin thema, from Greek, literally, something laid down, from tithenai to place — more at do
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of theme was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near theme
Cite this Entry
“Theme.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theme. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023.
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Last Updated:
29 Mar 2023
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English teme, from Old French teme, tesme (French thème), from Latin thema, from Ancient Greek θέμα (théma), from τίθημι (títhēmi, “I put, place”), reduplicative from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, do”) (whence also English do).
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /θiːm/
- Hyphenation: theme
- Rhymes: -iːm (for all senses)
- Rhymes: -iːmi (for the sense dealing with the Byzantine empire only) (Can we verify(+) this pronunciation?)
Noun[edit]
theme (plural themes)
- A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.
- 1828, James Hogg, Mary Burnet
- «Had not you once a beautiful daughter, named Mary?» said the stranger.
«It is a heartrending question, man,» said Andrew; «but certes, I had once a beloved daughter named Mary.»
«What became of her?» asked the stranger.
Andrew shook his head, turned round, and began to move away; it was a theme that his heart could not brook.
- «Had not you once a beautiful daughter, named Mary?» said the stranger.
- 1828, James Hogg, Mary Burnet
- A recurring idea; a motif.
- A concept with multiple instantiations.
-
variations on the theme of entrepreneurial resourcefulness
-
- Any of various colors, or color palettes, in which a design is offered; (graphical user interface) any of various skins for an app, affecting the visuals and perhaps other elements such as sound effects.
-
switch to a dark theme to conserve battery power
- Synonym: colorway
-
- A concept with multiple instantiations.
- (dated) An essay written for school.
-
1917, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:
-
Father Dolan came in today and pandied me because I was not writing my theme.
-
- 1979, Tri-Quarterly (issues 46-47, page 273)
- […] his themes and exercises were in constant demand for what we called cogging and American students rather grandly called plagiarization.
-
- (music) The main melody of a piece of music, especially one that is the source of variations.
- (film, television) A song, or a snippet of a song, that identifies a film, a TV program, a character, etc. by playing at the appropriate time.
- (grammar) The stem of a word.
- (linguistics) thematic relation of a noun phrase to a verb.
- (linguistics) Theta role in generative grammar and government and binding theory.
- (linguistics) Topic, what is generally being talked about, as opposed to rheme.
- A regional unit of organisation in the Byzantine empire.
[edit]
- thema
- thematic
- theme music
- theme park
- theme song
- theme tune
Translations[edit]
subject of a talk or an artistic piece
- Albanian: temë (sq) f
- Arabic: مَوْضُوع (ar) m (mawḍūʕ)
- Armenian: թեմա (hy) (tʿema)
- Azerbaijani: mövzu (az), tema (az)
- Belarusian: тэ́ма f (téma)
- Bengali: বিষয় (bn) (biśoẏ)
- Bulgarian: те́ма (bg) f (téma)
- Burmese: အကြောင်း (my) (a.kraung:)
- Catalan: tema (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 主題／主题 (zyu2 tai4)
- Mandarin: 主題／主题 (zh) (zhǔtí), 話題／话题 (zh) (huàtí)
- Czech: téma (cs) n
- Danish: tema n
- Dutch: thema (nl) n
- Estonian: teema (et)
- Finnish: aihe (fi)
- French: thème (fr) m
- Galician: tema (gl) m
- Georgian: თემა (tema)
- German: Thema (de) n
- Greek: θέμα (el) (théma)
- Ancient: θέμα n (théma)
- Hebrew: נוֹשֵׂא (he) m (nosé)
- Hindi: विषय (hi) m (viṣay), प्रसंग (hi) m (prasaṅg)
- Hungarian: téma (hu), tárgy (hu)
- Icelandic: þema n, efni (is) n
- Ido: temo (io)
- Indonesian: tema (id)
- Irish: téama m, ábhar (ga) m
- Japanese: 主題 (ja) (しゅだい, shudai), テーマ (ja) (tēma), 話題 (ja) (わだい, wadai)
- Kazakh: тақырып (kk) (taqyryp), тема (tema)
- Khmer: អង្គសេចក្តី (ʼɑng sackdəy), សាច់រឿង (sac rɨəng), អត្ថរស (km) (ʼatthaʼrŭəh)
- Korean: 주제(主題) (ko) (juje), 테마 (tema), 쩨마 (ko) (jjema) (North Korea), 화제(話題) (ko) (hwaje)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: mewzû (ku)
- Kyrgyz: тема (ky) (tema)
- Lao: ກະທູ້ (lo) (ka thū)
- Latvian: temats m
- Lithuanian: tema (lt) f
- Luxembourgish: Thema
- Macedonian: тема f (tema)
- Malay: tema (ms)
- Maori: marau, kaupapa, tāhuhu
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: сэдэв (mn) (sedev)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: tema (no) n
- Old English: andtimber n
- Ottoman Turkish: موضوع (mevzu)
- Pashto: موضوع (ps) f (mawzo’)
- Persian: موضوع (mowzu’), تم (fa) (tem)
- Polish: temat (pl) m
- Portuguese: tema (pt) m
- Romanian: temă (ro)
- Romansch: tema m
- Russian: те́ма (ru) f (téma)
- Sanskrit: विषय (sa) m (viṣaya)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: те́ма f
- Roman: téma (sh) f
- Slovak: téma n
- Slovene: tema (sl) f
- Spanish: tema (es) m
- Swedish: tema (sv) n
- Tagalog: tema (tl)
- Tajik: мавзӯъ (mavzüʾ), тема (tema)
- Thai: กระทู้ (th) (grà-túu)
- Turkish: ana konu (tr), tema (tr)
- Turkmen: tema, mowzuk
- Ukrainian: те́ма (uk) f (téma)
- Uyghur: ماۋزۇ (mawzu)
- Uzbek: mavzu (uz), tema (uz)
- Vietnamese: chủ đề (vi) (主題)
- Yiddish: טעמע (yi) f (teme)
recurring idea
- Finnish: teema (fi), aihe (fi)
- German: Motiv (de) n
- Hungarian: motívum (hu)
- Japanese: 主題 (ja) (しゅだい, shudai)
- Maori: tāhuhu, tāhū
- Portuguese: tema (pt) m
- Spanish: tema (es) m
music: main melody of a piece of music
- Bulgarian: тема (bg) f (tema)
- Catalan: tema (ca) m
- Finnish: teema (fi)
- German: Thema (de) n
- Greek: θέμα (el) (théma)
- Hungarian: téma (hu), motívum (hu)
- Icelandic: stef n, tema n, þema n
- Ido: temato (io)
- Irish: téama m
- Japanese: 主題曲 (しゅだいきょく, shudaikyoku), テーマ曲 (tēma kyoku)
- Maori: tāhuhu, tāhū
- Portuguese: tema (pt) m
- Spanish: tema (es) m
linguistics: thematic relation of a noun phrase to a verb
linguistics: theta role in generative grammar and government and binding theory
- Icelandic: þema n
Verb[edit]
theme (third-person singular simple present themes, present participle theming, simple past and past participle themed)
- (transitive) To give a theme to.
- We themed the birthday party around superheroes.
- (computing, transitive) To apply a theme to; to change the visual appearance and/or layout of (software).
References[edit]
Theme on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams[edit]
- Hemet
Middle English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Noun[edit]
theme (plural themes)
- Alternative form of teme (“topic”)
Etymology 2[edit]
Pronoun[edit]
theme
- Alternative spelling of þeme (“them”)
theme
(thēm)
n.
1. A topic of discourse or discussion. See Synonyms at subject.
2. A subject of artistic representation.
3. An implicit or recurrent idea; a motif: a party with a tropical island theme.
4. A short composition assigned to a student as a writing exercise.
5. Music A recurring melodic element in a composition, especially a melody forming the basis of a set of variations.
[Middle English teme, theme, from Old French tesme, from Latin thema, from Greek; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]
theme′less adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
theme
(θiːm)
n
1. an idea or topic expanded in a discourse, discussion, etc
2. (in literature, music, art, etc) a unifying idea, image, or motif, repeated or developed throughout a work
3. (Music, other) music a group of notes forming a recognizable melodic unit, often used as the basis of the musical material in a composition
4. (Education) a short essay, esp one set as an exercise for a student
5. (Grammar) 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
6. (Linguistics) grammar another word for root19, stem19
7. (Historical Terms) (in the Byzantine Empire) a territorial unit consisting of several provinces under a military commander
8. (modifier) planned or designed round one unifying subject, image, etc: a theme holiday.
vb
(tr) to design, decorate, arrange, etc, in accordance with a theme
[C13: from Latin thema, from Greek: deposit, from tithenai to lay down]
ˈthemeless adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
theme
(θim)
n.
1. a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; topic.
2. a unifying or dominant idea, motif, etc., as in a work of art.
3. a short, informal essay, esp. a school composition.
4.
a. a principal melodic subject in a musical composition.
b. a short melodic subject from which variations are developed.
[1250–1300; Middle English teme, theme (< Old French teme) < Medieval Latin thema, Latin < Greek théma proposition, deposit =(ti)thé(nai) to put, set down + -ma resultative n. suffix]
Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
theme
Past participle: themed
Gerund: theming
| Imperative |
|---|
| theme |
| theme |
| Present |
|---|
| I theme |
| you theme |
| he/she/it themes |
| we theme |
| you theme |
| they theme |
| Preterite |
|---|
| I themed |
| you themed |
| he/she/it themed |
| we themed |
| you themed |
| they themed |
| Present Continuous |
|---|
| I am theming |
| you are theming |
| he/she/it is theming |
| we are theming |
| you are theming |
| they are theming |
| Present Perfect |
|---|
| I have themed |
| you have themed |
| he/she/it has themed |
| we have themed |
| you have themed |
| they have themed |
| Past Continuous |
|---|
| I was theming |
| you were theming |
| he/she/it was theming |
| we were theming |
| you were theming |
| they were theming |
| Past Perfect |
|---|
| I had themed |
| you had themed |
| he/she/it had themed |
| we had themed |
| you had themed |
| they had themed |
| Future |
|---|
| I will theme |
| you will theme |
| he/she/it will theme |
| we will theme |
| you will theme |
| they will theme |
| Future Perfect |
|---|
| I will have themed |
| you will have themed |
| he/she/it will have themed |
| we will have themed |
| you will have themed |
| they will have themed |
| Future Continuous |
|---|
| I will be theming |
| you will be theming |
| he/she/it will be theming |
| we will be theming |
| you will be theming |
| they will be theming |
| Present Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I have been theming |
| you have been theming |
| he/she/it has been theming |
| we have been theming |
| you have been theming |
| they have been theming |
| Future Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I will have been theming |
| you will have been theming |
| he/she/it will have been theming |
| we will have been theming |
| you will have been theming |
| they will have been theming |
| Past Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I had been theming |
| you had been theming |
| he/she/it had been theming |
| we had been theming |
| you had been theming |
| they had been theming |
| Conditional |
|---|
| I would theme |
| you would theme |
| he/she/it would theme |
| we would theme |
| you would theme |
| they would theme |
| Past Conditional |
|---|
| I would have themed |
| you would have themed |
| he/she/it would have themed |
| we would have themed |
| you would have themed |
| they would have themed |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
| Noun | 1. |  theme — the subject matter of a conversation or discussion; «he didn’t want to discuss that subject»; «it was a very sensitive topic»; «his letters were always on the theme of love»
subject, topic subject matter, content, message, substance — what a communication that is about something is about bone of contention — the subject of a dispute; «the real bone of contention, as you know, is money» precedent — a subject mentioned earlier (preceding in time) question, head — the subject matter at issue; «the question of disease merits serious discussion»; «under the head of minor Roman poets» keynote — the principal theme in a speech or literary work |
| 2. | theme — a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work; «it was the usual `boy gets girl’ theme»
motif idea, thought — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; «it was not a good idea»; «the thought never entered my mind» topos — a traditional theme or motif or literary convention; «James Joyce uses the topos of the Wandering Jew in his Ulysses» |
|
| 3. |  theme — (music) melodic subject of a musical composition; «the theme is announced in the first measures»; «the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it»
melodic theme, musical theme, idea music — an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner melodic line, melodic phrase, melody, tune, strain, air, line — a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; «she was humming an air from Beethoven» motif, motive — a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music statement — (music) the presentation of a musical theme; «the initial statement of the sonata» variation — a repetition of a musical theme in which it is modified or embellished |
|
| 4. | theme — an essay (especially one written as an assignment); «he got an A on his composition»
paper, report, composition essay — an analytic or interpretive literary composition term paper — a composition intended to indicate a student’s progress during a school term |
|
| 5. | theme — (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; «thematic vowels are part of the stem»
root word, stem, root, radical, base linguistics — the scientific study of language descriptor, form, signifier, word form — the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something; «the inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached» |
|
| Verb | 1. | theme — provide with a particular theme or motive; «the restaurant often themes its menus»
furnish, provide, supply, render — give something useful or necessary to; «We provided the room with an electrical heater» |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
theme
noun
1. motif, leitmotif, recurrent image, unifying idea The need to strengthen the family has become a recurrent theme.
2. subject, idea, topic, matter, argument, text, burden, essence, thesis, subject matter, keynote, gist The novel’s central theme is the conflict between men and women.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
theme
noun
1. What a speech, piece of writing, or artistic work is about:
2. A relatively brief discourse written especially as an exercise:
3. The main part of a word to which affixes are attached:
The American Heritage® Roget’s Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
فِكْرَة موسيقِيَّه مُتَكَرِّرَهمَوْضُوعمَوضوع البَحْث
témanámět
temaemne
teema
tema
stefumræîuefni
テーマ
주제
tēmatemats
esejtema
tema
หัวข้อ
chủ đề
theme
[θiːm]
A. N (gen) → tema m
Collins Spanish Dictionary — Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
theme
[ˈθiːm]
n
[book, article, talk, discussion] → thème m, sujet m
[artist, author] → thème m
(= recurring melody) → thème m
modif [bar, restaurant, night] → à thème
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
theme
theme
:
theme evening
n (TV etc) → Themenabend m
theme park
n → Themenpark m
theme party
n → Mottoparty f (Party, die unter einem bestimmten Motto steht)
theme pub
n (Brit) Lokal, das einem bestimmten Thema entsprechend ausgestattet ist, → Themenkneipe f
theme restaurant
n → erlebnisgastronomisches Restaurant, Themenrestaurant nt
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
theme
(θiːm) noun
1. the subject of a discussion, essay etc. The theme for tonight’s talk is education.
2. in a piece of music, the main melody, which may be repeated often.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
theme
→ مَوْضُوع téma tema Thema κεντρική ιδέα tema teema thème tema tema テーマ 주제 thema tema temat tema тема tema หัวข้อ konu chủ đề 主题
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
Definition of theme: The theme of a literary work is a salient abstract idea that emerges from the treatment of its subject matter. Common themes are love, war, deceit, revenge, fate, destiny, etc.
What Does Theme Mean in Literature?
What is a theme in literature? A theme is a message or abstract idea that emerges from a literary work’s treatment of its subject matter.
The theme differs from the subject itself. The subject of a work can be described in concrete terms, usually through actions.
For example,
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
The subject matter is Huckleberry Finn’s adventures. The theme, however, is more of an abstract idea. The primary theme of Huck Finn, for example, is the conflict between civilization and natural life.
Theme vs. Subject
The theme of literary work deals with an abstract idea or concept, while the subject deals with the concrete actions that bring us that idea.
Example of Theme:
- Theme = Coming of Age.
- Subject Matter = A newcomers difficulties in moving from a small town to the big city.
- Explanation: The theme coming of age will explore the growing pains adolescents are likely to experience in the world. The subject matter for our hypothetical literary work is someone who recently moved from a small town to “the big city.”
Example of Theme:
- Theme = Pride.
- Subject Matter = The struggles of varsity football players to work together.
- Thematic Statement = It is important to maintain a balance between pride and humbleness because too much self-confidence can be destructive.
- Explanation = In this example, we see the author’s opinion regarding the theme of pride and how it relates to the work’s subject matter.
The thematic statement of a work is rarely said explicitly. Instead, people interpret it through characters, actions, and events within a book.
Thematic Concept vs. Thematic Statement
The thematic concept of a work is basically the definition of theme that we have outlined above. It is the abstract idea or concept with which a work of literature interacts.
A thematic statement, however, can be read to be more of an argument about that concept. In an essay, a thematic statement would be called your thesis statement.
For example,
- Theme / Thematic Concept = Freedom.
- Thematic Statement = Freedom should be extended to all citizens of the world.
As you can see, the theme of freedom is abstract and broad, and it doesn’t have a thesis statement. The thematic statement of a work, however, will make a claim about this concept. Think of the thematic statement as being an opinion held by the author about the theme itself.
In our example above, the theme is freedom, and the thematic statement is freedom should be extended to all citizens of the world.
There are also central themes and minor themes in literary works, which are just as they sound.
- Central theme = the central or main message of a literary work.
- Minor themes = other, less important messages of a literary work.
Here are some examples of themes found in literature:
- In Paulo Choelo’s novel, The Alchemist, the author explores the subject of fate through a person’s dreams. His thematic statement regarding dreams is that one should always follow his heart and pursue his dreams at any cost.
- In William Blake’s poem, The Poison Tree, the author explores the theme of anger. The thematic statement of the poem is if anger is not dealt with, the feeling will intensify and eventually leads to destruction.
Summary
Define theme in literature: In summation, the theme is an idea or concept that a literary work explores: love, despair, honor, etc.
The author explores the theme through the subject matter of his or her work, and when telling the story, arrives at some kind of thematic statement.
Here is a final example of theme found in the short story “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry.
In “The Gift of the Magi,” Henry conveys the message that love is more important than material possessions.
- Theme: Love, charity, sacrifice.
- Subject matter: Young couple struggling financially during Christmas.
- Thematic Statement: Love is more important than material possessions.
Contents
- 1 What Does Theme Mean in Literature?
- 2 Theme vs. Subject
- 3 Thematic Concept vs. Thematic Statement
- 4 Examples of Theme in Literature
- 5 Summary
Other forms: themes; themed; theming
A theme can be an underlying topic of a discussion or a recurring idea in an artistic work. Anxiety about getting married is a big theme in romantic comedies.
From ancient Greek thema (via Latin and French) we get this word, whose many related uses all have to do with the idea of «the main subject of something.» In music, it can be a recurring melody in a composition, or an entire song throughout a play or film (a theme song). It can also describe the decor of a setting: «The amusement park had a Wild West theme.»
Definitions of theme
-
noun
the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
“his letters were always on the
theme of love”-
synonyms:
subject, topic
-
noun
a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work
“it was the usual `boy gets girl’
theme”-
synonyms:
motif
see moresee less-
types:
-
topos
a traditional theme or motif or literary convention
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type of:
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idea, thought
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
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topos
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noun
an essay (especially one written as an assignment)
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synonyms:
composition, paper, report
see moresee less-
types:
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term paper
a composition intended to indicate a student’s progress during a school term
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type of:
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essay
an analytic or interpretive literary composition
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term paper
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noun
(music) melodic subject of a musical composition
“the
theme is announced in the first measures”-
synonyms:
idea, melodic theme, musical theme
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verb
provide with a particular theme or motive
“the restaurant often
themes its menus” -
noun
(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘theme’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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