Theme
[θiːm] or [θim]
Definition
(noun.) a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work; 'it was the usual `boy gets girl' theme'.
(noun.) (music) melodic subject of a musical composition; 'the theme is announced in the first measures'; 'the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it'.
(verb.) provide with a particular theme or motive; 'the restaurant often themes its menus'.
Edited by Barton--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A subject or topic on which a person writes or speaks; a proposition for discussion or argument; a text.
(n.) Discourse on a certain subject.
(n.) A composition or essay required of a pupil.
(n.) A noun or verb, not modified by inflections; also, that part of a noun or verb which remains unchanged (except by euphonic variations) in declension or conjugation; stem.
(n.) That by means of which a thing is done; means; instrument.
(n.) The leading subject of a composition or a movement.
Typed by Alice
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Subject, topic, text, thesis.[2]. Essay (as a school exercise), dissertation, Ursa Major composition.[3]. (Gram.) Radical word.
Checked by Edwin
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Topic, thesis, disquisition, subject, discourse, essay,[See DEPREDATION]
Typist: Ludwig
Definition
n. a subject set or proposed for discussion or on which a person speaks or writes a thesis a brief essay: a verb in its radical form unmodified by inflections: (mus.) subject a short melody developed with variations: an administrative division under the Byzantine empire.—n. Thē′ma that which constitutes a subject of thought.—adj. Thēmat′ic.—adv. Thēmat′ically.—n. Thē′matist a writer of themes.
Inputed by Isabella
Examples
- I was obliged to recall him to a theme which was of necessity one of close and anxious interest to me. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- There is an activity in process; one is taken up with the development of a theme. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Her theme was their wants, which she sought to supply; their sufferings, which she longed to alleviate. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Nothing more was said on this theme, and Mr. Harthouse was soon idly gay on indifferent subjects. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Happily, he was soon on another theme. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- More than once he asked the Major about--about Mrs. George Osborne--a theme on which the Major could be very eloquent when he chose. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Hortense and she possessed an exhaustless mutual theme of conversation in the corrupt propensities of servants. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- As I saw she would go on, I thought it best to try to be serviceable to her by meeting the theme rather than avoiding it. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- She would just give me something to do, to rectify--a theme for my tutor lectures. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- But excuse me, Dr. John, may I change the theme for one instant? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- He pursued his theme, however, without noticing my deprecation. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- You can make almost any theme amusing to me, Eugene, but not this. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- This, however, is not a theme to be treated of in passing only, but will have to be discussed again and again. Plato. The Republic.
- Now, my friends, proceeds Mr. Chadband, since I am upon this theme-- Guster presents herself. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Oliver Twist being uppermost in his mind, he made him his theme. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- With curious readiness did she adapt herself to such themes as interested him. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- The phonograph was now fairly launched as a world sensation, and a reference to the newspapers of 1878 will show the extent to which it and Edison were themes of universal discussion. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The mammoth and the horse are among the commonest themes. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The corruption of our hearts, the evil of our ways, the curse that is upon us, the terrors that surround us--these were the themes of my childhood. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- The theatre and the public-house were the chief themes of the wretched man's wanderings. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- It is astonishing to me now, how I found time, in the midst of my porings and blunderings over heavier themes, to read those books as I did. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- On one--only one--of her favorite themes she was disappointed. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Children, you know, have little reflection, or rather their reflections run on ideal themes. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Checked by Claudia