THEME

theme, motif

(noun) a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work; “it was the usual ‘boy gets girl’ theme”

root, root word, base, stem, theme, radical

(noun) (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; “thematic vowels are part of the stem”

composition, paper, report, theme

(noun) an essay (especially one written as an assignment); “he got an A on his composition”

subject, topic, theme

(noun) the subject matter of a conversation or discussion; “he didn’t want to discuss that subject”; “it was a very sensitive topic”; “his letters were always on the theme of love”

theme, melodic theme, musical theme, idea

(noun) (music) melodic subject of a musical composition; “the theme is announced in the first measures”; “the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it”

theme

(verb) provide with a particular theme or motive; “the restaurant often themes its menus”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

theme (plural themes)

A subject of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.

A recurring idea; a motif.

(dated) An essay written for school.

(music) The main melody of a piece of music, especially one that is the source of variations.

(film, television) A song, or a snippet of a song, that identifies a film, a TV program, a character, etc. by playing at the appropriate time.

(computing, figuratively) The collection of color schemes, sounds, artwork etc, that "skin" an environment towards a particular motif.

(grammar) The stem of a word.

(linguistics) thematic relation of a noun phrase to a verb.

(linguistics) Theta role in generative grammar and government and binding theory.

(linguistics) Topic, what is generally being talked about, as opposed to rheme.

A regional unit of organisation in the Byzantine empire.

Verb

theme (third-person singular simple present themes, present participle theming, simple past and past participle themed)

(transitive) To give a theme to.

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

Source: Wiktionary

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Theme, n. Etym: [OE. teme, OF. teme, F. thème, L. thema, Gr. Do, and cf. Thesis.]

1. A subject or topic on which a person writes or speaks; a proposition for discussion or argument; a text. My theme is alway one and ever was. Chaucer. And when a soldier was the theme, my name Was not far off. Shak.

2. Discourse on a certain subject. Then ran repentance and rehearsed his theme. Piers Plowman. It was the subject of my theme. Shak.

3. A composition or essay required of a pupil. Locke.

4. (Gram.)

Definition: A noun or verb, not modified by inflections; also, that part of a noun or verb which remains unchanged (except by euphonic variations) in declension or conjugation; stem.

5. That by means of which a thing is done; means; instrument. [Obs.] Swift.

6. (Mus.)

Definition: The leading subject of a composition or a movement.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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