# theme

Pronunciation: say "THEEM" /θiːm/

## Noun

1. The subject or topic of a talk, piece of writing, or work of art.
   - Simple: The main subject of a talk, story, or piece of art.
   - _The film explores the theme of forgiveness through its main character._
   - _Several speakers returned to the same theme of fairness at work._
2. An idea, era or style selected to guide the decorations, costumes or activities of an event or a place.
   - Simple: An idea, style or time in history chosen for an event or place, which guides how it looks and what people do.
   - _The restaurant's jungle theme runs from the vine-covered walls to the servers' safari shirts._
   - _Guests were asked to dress for the gala's Roaring Twenties theme._
3. A recurring idea or motif that appears in several different forms or instances.
   - Simple: An idea that shows up again and again in different places.
   - _Isolation is a theme repeated across the novelist's later works._
   - _Complaints about parking became a familiar theme at every town meeting that spring._
4. Any of the color schemes or visual styles in which a design is offered, including the selectable skins that change an app's appearance.
   - Simple: A set of colors or a look that you can choose for a design or app.
   - _Users can switch to a high-contrast theme for easier reading._
   - _The app shipped with three color themes._
5. A song or short tune associated with a film, TV program, character, or the like and played to signal it.
   - Simple: A song or short tune that plays to identify a show, film, or character.
   - _The detective series opens with a brooding orchestral theme._
   - _Fans hummed the show's theme as they left the studio._
7. The main melody of a piece of music, especially one used as the basis for variations.
   - Simple: The main tune in a piece of music that other parts are built from.
   - _The pianist introduced the theme before launching into a series of variations._
   - _The composer develops a single theme throughout the symphony's final movement._
9. In a crossword, a subject, pattern or wordplay device connecting a group of clues or answers.
   - Simple: A shared subject, pattern or word trick connecting several clues or answers in a crossword.
   - _This puzzle's theme links four answers that each hide a city name._
   - _Solvers praised the elegant theme running through the grid._

## Verb

6. As a verb, to plan or design something, such as a party, room or book, so that all of it follows a single chosen subject or idea.
   - Simple: To give something a main idea or subject that ties it together.
   - _The organizers themed the gala around 1920s glamour._
   - _The museum plans to theme its new gallery around the history of flight._
8. To apply a theme to software, changing its visual appearance or layout.
   - Simple: To change how a piece of software looks by giving it a new design.
   - _Developers can theme the dashboard to match a client's brand._
   - _He themed the website using a downloadable template._

## Noun

10. An essay written for school as an assignment. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A short essay that a student writes for school.
   - _Each student handed in a theme on a book of their choosing._
   - _The professor returned our themes with detailed corrections._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In a sentence, what is generally being talked about: the topic, distinct from what is said about it.
- (noun) The stem of a word: the base part to which inflectional endings attach.
- (noun) In linguistics, the semantic role of the thing that is moved, located or affected by the action of a verb, such as the ball in "she threw the ball".
- (noun) In the Byzantine Empire, one of the regional divisions by which the state was organized and governed.

## Origin

This word came through Middle English 'teme' and Old French 'teme' (modern French 'thème'), from Latin 'thema', from Ancient Greek θέμα (théma). That comes from τίθημι (títhēmi, 'I put, place'), which traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to put, place, do' (also the source of English 'do').

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