Theme

Definitions

1. A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.
2. A recurring idea; a motif.
3. A concept with multiple instantiations.
4. Any of various colors, or color palettes, in which a design is offered; (graphical user interface) any of various skins for an app, affecting the visuals and perhaps other elements such as sound effects.
5. An essay written for school.
   dated
6. The main melody of a piece of music, especially one that is the source of variations.
7. A song, or a snippet of a song, that identifies a film, a TV program, a character, etc. by playing at the appropriate time.
8. An additional puzzle within the crossword, typically involving a set of non-standard clues or answers.
9. The stem of a word.
10. Thematic relation of a noun phrase to a verb.
11. Theta role in generative grammar and government and binding theory.
12. Topic, what is generally being talked about.
13. A regional unit of organisation in the Byzantine empire.

Equivalents

Examples

“"Had not you once a beautiful daughter, named Mary?" said the stranger. "It is a heartrending question⟳, man," said Andrew; "but certes, I had once a beloved daughter named Mary." "What became of her?" asked the stranger. Andrew shook his head, turned round, and began to move⟳ away; it was a theme that his heart could not brook.”

“variations on the theme of entrepreneurial resourcefulness”

“switch⟳ to a dark theme to conserve battery power”

“Father Dolan came in today and pandied me because I was not writing my theme.”

“[…] his themes and exercises were in constant demand⟳ for what we called cogging and American students rather grandly called plagiarization.”

CEFR level