Theme θiːm Main North American Literature Festival Central

• north american literature is the main theme of this year's festival.
• the president stressed a favourite campaign theme—greater emphasis on education.
• the naked male figure was always the central theme of greek art.
• the stories are all variations on the theme of unhappy marriage.

theme

1. the subject or main idea in a talk, piece of writing or work of art
• North American literature is the main theme of this year's festival.
• The President stressed a favourite campaign theme—greater emphasis on education.
• The naked male figure was always the central theme of Greek art.
• The stories are all variations on the theme of unhappy marriage.
2. a short tune that is repeated or developed in a piece of music
• = theme music
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/theme-music
• the theme from ‘The Godfather’
3. a short piece of writing on a particular subject, done for school
4. the part of a sentence or clause that contains information that is not new to the reader or audience
• compare rheme
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/rheme

Extra Examples

• He gave a talk on the theme of teenage unemployment.
• His later novels develop the theme of alienation.
• Most of the essays appear to be variations on a few central themes.
• Several familiar themes emerged from the discussion.
• The film’s haunting musical theme stayed in my head for days.
• The same themes run through all her novels.
• universal themes of love and loneliness
• He wrote and sang the theme to the hit TV series, ‘Minder’.
• His theme is played each time he appears on screen.
• North American literature is the main theme of this year’s festival.
• The trumpets’ theme is then taken up by the rest of orchestra.

Word Origin

• Middle English: via Old French from Latin thema, from Greek, literally ‘proposition’; related to tithenai ‘to set or place’.