cinema

noun

cin·​e·​ma ˈsi-nə-mə 

 British also  -ˌmä

1

a

: motion picture

—usually used attributively

b

: a motion-picture theater

2

a

: movies

especially : the film industry

b

: the art or technique of making motion pictures

Synonyms

• big screen
• film
• filmdom
• filmland
• filmmaking
• movie
• moviemaking
• pictures
• screen
• silver screen

Examples of cinema in a Sentence

a student of French cinema

We drove by the cinema to see what was playing.

Recent Examples on the Web

On the eve of its arrival in cinemas, the film had notched up 830,000 pre-sales for Wednesday and other subsequent days. —Patrick Frater, Variety, 25 Apr. 2024

That the entire spectacle (book talks, cinema, music, dance and a 450,000-person international audience) is set against the drama of Rajasthan’s fabled Pink City certainly doesn’t hurt. —Abbie Kozolchyk, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

short for cinematograph

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing cinema

• cinema verité
• go to the cinema

Kids Definition

cinema

noun

cin·​e·​ma ˈsin-ə-mə 

1

a

: movie sense 2a

a cinema director

b

: a theater for showing movies

went to the cinema

2

a

: the business of making movies

worked in cinema

b

: the art or technique of making movies

a student of French cinema

cinematic

ˌsin-ə-ˈmat-ik

adjective

cinematically

-i-k(ə-)lē

adverb

Etymology

derived from French cinématographe "motion picture," from Greek kinēma "movement" and graphe "picture," from kinein "to move" — related to kinetic