Science, ideas & the arts

theater

A théatron was simply 'a place for watching', the hillside seating of a Greek stage. Latin theatrum spread it across Europe; Italian touring companies took teatro to the Ottomans, Polish took it to Russia, and Russian to Central Asia, while American English kept the older -er spelling.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Ancient Greek to Modern Greek

From Latin to Italian, Turkish

From Latin to Spanish

From Latin to Portuguese

From Old French to French

From Latin to German

From Latin to Polish, Russian, Kazakh

From Russian to Georgian

From English to Japanese

450 BCEAncient Greek

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.