| 释义 |
amphitheatre, -ter|ˌæmfɪˈθiːətə(r)|
[ad. L. amphitheātrum, a. Gr. ἀµϕιθέᾱτρον, f. ἀµϕί on both sides + θέᾱτρον theatre. The 17–18th c. spelling -theater is common in U.S.; -theatre follows Fr.]
†1. etymol. A double theatre. Obs.
1615Sandys Trav. 270 An Amphitheater consists of two ioyned Theaters, and is thereof so called. 1628Donne Serm. cxxxiv. V. 396 An amphitheatre consists of two theatres. Our text hath two parts in which all Men may sit and see themselves acted. a1631― Select. (1840) 99 A tragedy in the amphitheatre, the double theatre, this world, and the next too. 1807Robinson Archæol. Græca i. i. 17 Amphitheatres, which had the form of two theatres united, were oval.
2. Hence (as the theatres of the ancients were semicircles or half-ovals): An oval or circular building, with seats rising behind and above each other, around a central open space or arena.
1546Langley Polyd. Verg. iii. ix. 75 b, An Amphitheatre which was a round scaffold full of benches of diuerse heightes. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie (Arb.) 52 Their theaters..somptuously built with marble and square stone in forme all round..were called Amphitheaters. a1661B. Holyday Juvenal 70 The theaters being for stage-plays..but the amphitheaters for fights of men with men, and of men with beasts. 1703Lond. Gaz. mmmdcccxci/1 An Ancient Amphitheater, called the Coliseo. 1866Kingsley Herew. x. 160 The amphitheatre of Arles. 1883Talmage in Chr. Her. 9 May 256/1 The students gathered in the amphitheatre to see a painful operation.
3. With reference to its ancient Greek and Roman uses: A place of public contest, an arena.
1640Brome Antipod. i. v. 245 An Amphitheater Of exercise and pleasure. 1735Somerville Chase ii. 450 A listed Field..An Amphitheatre more glorious far Than ancient Rome could boast. 1875Helps Ess., Aids to Contentm. 9 Many unhappy persons seem to imagine that they are always in an amphitheatre, with the assembled world as spectators.
4. A semicircular rising gallery in a theatre, containing part of the seats for spectators.
1859G. A. Sala Twice round Clock 253 The dwellers in the high-up amphitheatre or gallery. 1882C. Dickens Dict. Lond. 96/1 Evening dress is indispensable in every part except gallery and amphitheatre stalls. 1883St. James's G. 11 Apr. 1/2 First circle, 2s. 6d.; amphitheatre, 1s. 6d.; gallery, 1s.
†5. fig. Surrounding scene. Obs.
c1630Drummond of Hawthornden Wks. 1711. 3 Look how Prometheus..wondred at this world's amphitheater. 1711Addison Spect. No. 315 ⁋11 All the Wonders in this immense Amphitheatre that lies between the Poles of Heaven.
6. transf. A natural situation consisting of a level surrounded in whole or part by rising slopes.
1772Pennant Tours in Scotl. (1774) 40 On every side mountains close the prospect, and form an amphitheatre almost matchless. 1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. li, Nature's volcanic amphitheatre. 1849W. Irving Mahomed & Succ. v. (1853) 19 Bounded by an amphi-theatre of hills.
7. Gardening. An arrangement of shrubs and trees rising behind each other like the seats of an amphitheatre, whether upon a natural slope or not.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Amphitheatres are also sometimes formed of slopes on the sides of hills. |