Hypertext Webster Gateway: "theme"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Theme \Theme\, n. [OE. teme, OF. teme, F. th[`e]me, L. thema,
Gr. ?, fr. ? to set, place. See {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.) 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.) The leading subject of a composition or a movement.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
theme
n 1: 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" [syn: {subject}, {topic}]
2: a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or
artistic work; "it was the usual `boy gets girl' theme"
[syn: {motif}]
3: melodic subject of a musical composition; "the theme is
announced in the first measures"; "the accompanist picked
up the idea and elaborated it" [syn: {melodic theme}, {musical
theme}, {idea}]
4: an essay (especially one written as an assignment); "he got
an A on his composition" [syn: {composition}, {paper}, {report}]
5: (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are
removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" [syn: {root},
{root word}, {base}, {stem}, {radical}]
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