Art & MusicGreek → English
Amphitheater
/ˈæmfɪθiːətər/noun
A round or oval arena with tiered seating running all the way around it.
The Greek roots
ἀμφί
amphí
on both sides, around
θέατρον
théatron
viewing place
Literally: “theatre on both sides”
The story of the word
Greek theatres were half-bowls facing a stage, open at the front. The Romans closed the curve into a full ring for gladiators and beast hunts, and the Greek-derived name records exactly that change: seating on both sides. The Colosseum was the Amphitheatrum Flavium in its own day, and American usage has since loosened the word to cover almost any raked outdoor seating bowl.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
theatretheoryamphibianamphora
In a sentence
The Roman amphitheater at Arles still holds concerts, with modern seats bolted into ancient stone.