Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - theme

(themes) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A theme in a piece of writing, a talk, or a discussion is an important idea or subject that runs through it. The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe... N-COUNT: usu with supp 2. A theme in an artist’s work or in a work of literature is an idea in it that the artist or writer develops or repeats. The novel’s central theme is the perennial conflict between men and women... N-COUNT: usu with supp 3. A theme is a short simple tune on which a piece of music is based. ...variations on themes from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. N-COUNT 4. Theme music or a theme song is a piece of music that is played at the beginning and end of a film or of a television or radio programme. ...the theme from Dr Zhivago... N-COUNT: usu N n