Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Definition for THEME
THEME, n. [L. thema; Gr. θεμα, from τιθημι, to set or place.]
- A subject or topic on which a person writes or speaks. The preacher takes a text for the theme of his discourse. When a soldier was the theme, my name / Was not far off. Shak.
- A short dissertation composed by a student. Milton.
- In grammar, a radical verb, or the verb in its primary absolute sense, not modified by inflections; as, the infinitive mode in English. But a large portion of the words called themes in Greek, are not the radical words, but are themselves derivative forms of the verb. The fact is the same in other languages.
- In music, a series of notes selected as the text or subject of a new composition.
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