# cinema

Pronunciation: US say "SIN-uh-muh" /ˈsɪn.ə.mə/; UK say "SIN-i-muh" /ˈsɪn.ɪ.mə/

## Noun

1. Films considered as a whole or as an art form, with their own techniques, history, and traditions, as in 'independent cinema' or 'the language of cinema'.
   - Simple: Films as a whole, or filmmaking thought of as an art.
   - _Few directors understood the language of cinema as well as she did._
   - _After the war, Europe's national cinemas each developed a style of their own._
2. A theater or building where movies are shown to an audience.
   - Simple: A building where people go to watch movies.
   - _The new cinema downtown, just across from the bus station, has twelve screens and reclining seats._
   - _Many small-town cinemas survive by showing classic films on weeknights._
3. The industry that produces films and movies.
   - Simple: The business of making movies.
   - _She spent thirty years in Indian cinema before moving into television._
   - _Streaming services have upended the economics of cinema._
4. (informal) A film, show, or moment of such skill or drama that it seems to represent filmmaking or entertainment at its best, as in 'now that's cinema'. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Something on screen, or an event, that is so good or exciting it feels like a great film.
   - _The final shot holds for a full minute without a cut. Now that's cinema._
   - _Online, fans spent the whole weekend calling the director's new film pure cinema._

## Origin

Borrowed from French cinéma, a clipping of cinématographe, the term coined by Léon Bouly in 1892 and made famous by the Lumière brothers, from Ancient Greek κίνημα (kínēma, "movement") + γράφω (gráphō, "write, record"). German Kino ("cinema") ultimately comes from the same Greek source.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cinema (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).