Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The area of a modern theater that is located between the curtain and the orchestra.
- n. The stage of an ancient theater, located between the background and the orchestra.
- n. A proscenium arch.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In the ancient theater, the stage before the scene or back wall.
- n. 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.
Wiktionary
- n. The stage area between the curtain and the orchestra.
- n. The stage area immediately in front of the scene building.
- n. The row of columns at the front the scene building, at first directly behind the circular orchestra but later upon a stage.
- n. A proscenium arch.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Anc. Theater) The part where the actors performed; the stage.
- n. (Modern Theater) The part of the stage in front of the curtain; sometimes, the curtain and its framework.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the part of a modern theater stage between the curtain and the orchestra (i.e., in front of the curtain)
- n. the wall that separates the stage from the auditorium in a modern theater
Etymologies
- From Latin proscaenium ("in front of the scenery"), from Ancient Greek προσκήνιον (proskēnion), from πρό (pro, "before") + σκηνή (skēnē, "scene building"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin proscēnium, from Greek proskēnion : pro-, before; see pro-2 + skēnē, buildings at the back of the stage. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“But the grand subject of their admiration was what is rather affectedly called "The Heptaplasiesoptron," or fancy reflective proscenium, which is placed in the long room fronting the orchestra of the Rotunda.”
“A proscenium is a piece of custom home theater furniture designed to hold a projection screen, built in speakers and controls, and custom cabinetry that will store DVDs, movies, music, and other home theater items.”
“A kind of proscenium, which could be taken down and shut up in a closet, formed the whole theatre.”
“I remember asking a lady who had owned a "proscenium" at the old”
“The table in front hangs out over the sidewalk, with a kind of proscenium above it, and passing Brooklynites couldn't help but stare: Oh yeah, that guy, the big, scary one.”
“Might it be that performing O'Neill on a proscenium stage even the best actors push too hard and overstate the obvious?”
The Wall Street Journal: O'Neill Staged on an Intimate Scale
“With the hard drive as proscenium, The Builders Assocation mounts a spectacle that exposes the "transparency" of contemporary technology.”
“Philip Prowse's strangely elaborate, second proscenium set is a wonder; but he also directs these considerably less than wonderful performances, in which Ms. Tointon unhappily manages to be convincing in neither of her accents.”
“While this production would surely pack a kidney punch on a conventional proscenium stage, it's the in-your-face intimacy of TimeLine's "Front Page" that makes it so special.”
“I continued down the aisle and climbed the side steps up to the proscenium stage.”
Simon & Schuster: Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die the Deep End of Fear
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘proscenium’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Gene Wolfe
Please contribute your favorite words from any of Gene Wolfe’s books to this prize-winning list.
In case you come across words in this list which are too commonplace to fit in, please ...gallipot, roost, badelaire, oblesque, execration, dhole, amschaspand, arctother, chalcedony, penitence, asimi, autarch and 839 more...
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phrontistery - p
from phrontistery.info
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
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perfectly plosive p's
positively p's, please!
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big book gre
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Columns & Rows
Wordnik is organized as columns.
What a row!peripteral, peristyle, orthostichy, pseudo-dipteral, ployment, indentation, plinth, stylobate, balustrade, chine, trompe, telamon and 75 more...
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Favorite Words
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jeffreytwhitney's list
abecedarian, assonance, prolix, avuncular, baleful, borborygmus, accismus, atavism, catachresis, coruscant, callipygian, carbuncle and 117 more...
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Latinate
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colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
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Carlos' Words
monstropolous, absquatulate
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wickedwitch's list
lll
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NTDW1
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Favorite Words
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...another list...
I've no idea where I got this page full of words, but whatever it is, I want to find it again. May have duplicate words from other lists.
bicameral, aphelion, dirigible, parhelion, flocculus, vernier, corticate, oxalis, pandanus, calabash, plumbago, jonquil and 217 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for proscenium.

fbharjo before the rows, where theatrical columns are made! Feb 6, 2012
shbhrsaha one of those things that explains the unexplainable! Jul 17, 2009