Art & MusicGreek → English
Proscenium
/prəˈsiːniəm/noun
The arch or frame separating the stage from the auditorium, and the part of the stage in front of the curtain.
The Greek roots
πρό
pró
before, in front of
σκηνή
skēnḗ
stage building, tent
Literally: “in front of the stage building”
The story of the word
The σκηνή started as a literal tent behind the acting circle where actors changed masks, then hardened into a painted stone facade; the προσκήνιον was the colonnaded platform in front of it. That same tent gives us scene and scenery, so a stage set is etymologically a piece of camping equipment. The proscenium arch that frames a Victorian theatre is a much later idea, borrowing an old word for a new picture-frame view of the action.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
scenesceneryscenicskene
In a sentence
The company hates the proscenium and plays everything in the round.
Gilt cherubs run along the top of the proscenium arch.