Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The area of a modern theater that is located between the curtain and the orchestra.
  • noun The stage of an ancient theater, located between the background and the orchestra.
  • noun A proscenium arch.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In the ancient theater, the stage before the scene or back wall.
  • noun In the modern theater, that part of the house which lies between the curtain or drop-scene and the orchestra: often used also to mean the curtain and the arch or framework which holds it.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anc. Theater) The part where the actors performed; the stage.
  • noun (Modern Theater) The part of the stage in front of the curtain; sometimes, the curtain and its framework.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The stage area between the curtain and the orchestra.
  • noun The stage area immediately in front of the scene building.
  • noun The row of columns at the front the scene building, at first directly behind the circular orchestra but later upon a stage.
  • noun A proscenium arch.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the part of a modern theater stage between the curtain and the orchestra (i.e., in front of the curtain)
  • noun the wall that separates the stage from the auditorium in a modern theater

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin proscēnium, from Greek proskēnion : pro-, before; see pro– + skēnē, buildings at the back of the stage.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin proscaenium ("in front of the scenery"), from Ancient Greek προσκήνιον (proskēnion), from πρό (pro, "before") + σκηνή (skēnē, "scene building").

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Examples

Comments

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  • one of those things that explains the unexplainable!

    July 17, 2009

  • before the rows, where theatrical columns are made!

    February 7, 2012