Definition of Amphitheatre

1. Noun. A sloping gallery with seats for spectators (as in an operating room or theater).

Exact synonyms: Amphitheater
Generic synonyms: Gallery
Terms within: Tiered Seat
Category relationships: Dramatic Art, Dramatics, Dramaturgy, Theater, Theatre
Derivative terms: Amphitheatric, Amphitheatrical

2. Noun. An oval large stadium with tiers of seats; an arena in which contests and spectacles are held.
Exact synonyms: Amphitheater, Coliseum
Specialized synonyms: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Colosseum
Generic synonyms: Arena, Bowl, Sports Stadium, Stadium
Terms within: Vomitory
Derivative terms: Amphitheatric, Amphitheatrical

Definition of Amphitheatre

1. Noun. (British) An open, outdoor theatre, especially one from the classical period of ancient Greece. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Amphitheatre

1. 1. An oval or circular building with rising tiers of seats about an open space called the arena. The Romans first constructed amphitheaters for combats of gladiators and wild beasts. 2. Anything resembling an amphitheater in form; as, a level surrounded by rising slopes or hills, or a rising gallery in a theater. Origin: L. Amphitheatrum, fr. Gr.; + theater: cf. F. Amphitheatre. See Theater. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Amphitheatre

amphisbaenoid
amphisbæna
amphisbænas
amphisbænæ
amphisome
amphisomes
amphistomatic
amphistome
amphistomous
amphistylar
amphistylic
amphitheater
amphitheaterlike
amphitheaters
amphitheatral
amphitheatre (current term)
amphitheatres
amphitheatric
amphitheatrical
amphitheatrically
amphithymia
amphitrichate
amphitrichous
amphitrocha
amphitrophic
amphitropic
amphitropous
amphitropous ovule
amphitypy
amphiuma

Literary usage of Amphitheatre

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The history of the decline and fall of the Roman empire by Edward Gibbon (1881)
"On the appointed day the various motives of flattery, fear, and curiosity attracted to the amphitheatre an innumerable multitude of spectators; ..."

2. A Dictionary of Architecture and Building, Biographical, Historical, and by Russell Sturgis (1901)
"It is notable that a town as small as Pompeii must always have been had an amphitheatre capable of holding perhaps 20,- 000 spectators. ..."

3. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and (1910)
"The arena was generally of the same shape as the amphitheatre itself, and was separated ... For the amphitheatre at Pompeii, ..."

4. A History of Rome by Robert Fowler Leighton (1880)
"Other similar structures were contrived, and iu the time of Augustus a stone amphitheatre was erected in the Campus Martius. All these structures, however, ..."

5. A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 to 1901 by Thomas Allston Brown (1902)
"In 1835 it was remodelled into an amphitheatre, with a stage and ring, ... In November, 1842, this house was known as The amphitheatre of the Republic. ..."

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