Amphitheatre
//ˈæmfɪˌθiːətə// name, noun
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An open, outdoor theatre (which may be a theatre in the round, or have a stage with seating on only one side), especially one from the classical period of ancient Greece or Rome, or a modern venue of similar design.
"Ancient Roman amphitheatres were mostly oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium."
- 2 an oval large stadium with tiers of seats; an arena in which contests and spectacles are held wordnet
- 3 A natural formation of a similar shape, where a steep mountain or slope or particular rock formation forms a partial or complete bowl, especially one used as a performance space (and possibly modified by carving out seats, etc) because the slopes naturally amplify or echo sound.
"The difference between the approach to Baylen from the west and from the east, is that on the former side the traveller reaches the town through a semicircular amphitheatre of upland, while by the latter he comes up a V-shaped valley ..."
- 4 a sloping gallery with seats for spectators (as in an operating room or theater) wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A town in the Shire of Pyrenees, central western Victoria, Australia
Example
More examples"An amphitheatre is a special type of open air theatre."
Etymology
From Latin amphitheatrum, from Ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον (amphithéatron) from ἀμφί (amphí, “on both sides”) + θέᾱτρον (théātron, “theatre”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.