Theme

Pronunciation

• IPA: /θim/
• Rhymes: -iːm (for all senses; incorrectly used in some cases instead of the second pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -iːmi (for the sense dealing with the Byzantine empire only)

Origin

From Old French tesme (French: thème), from Latin thema, from Ancient Greek θέμα, from τίθημι (tithemi, "I put, place"), reduplicative from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ("to put, place, do") (whence also English do).

Full definition of theme

Noun

1. A subject of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.
2. A recurring idea; a motif.
3. (music) The main melody of a piece of music, especially one that is the source of variations.
4. (computing, figuratively) The collection of color schemes, sounds, artwork etc., that "skin" an environment towards a particular motif.
5. (grammar) The stem of a word
6. (linguistics) thematic relation of a noun phrase to a verb
7. (linguistics) Theta role in generative grammar and government and binding theory.
8. (linguistics) Topic, what is being talked about, as opposed to rheme
9. A regional unit of organisation in the Byzantine empire.

Related terms

• thema
• thematic
• theme music
• theme park
• theme song
• theme tune

Verb

1. (computing, transitive) To apply a theme to; to change the visual appearance and/or layout of (software).