autotheater
|au-to-the-a-ter|
🇺🇸
/ˈɔːtəˌθiːətər/
🇬🇧
/ˈɔːtəˌθiːətə/
theater for cars / automated theatre
Etymology
'autotheater' originates from Greek and English elements: Greek 'autos' meaning 'self' (used as the combining form 'auto-') together with English 'theater' (from Greek 'theatron', 'place for viewing').
'autotheater' appears as a compound formed in early 20th-century English (often hyphenated as 'auto-theater' or 'auto-theatre') to denote a theater associated with automobiles (drive-in). The component 'theater' itself comes from Greek 'theatron' via Latin and Old French.
Initially coined to mean a 'theatre related to automobiles' (literally 'auto-theater'), it came to be used mainly for 'drive-in movie theaters' and, in rarer contexts, for mechanically automated theatres.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an outdoor cinema or drive-in movie theater where audiences watch films from their cars.
We spent Saturday night at the autotheater, watching the new film from the back of our car.
Synonyms
Noun 2
a (rare or archaic) term for a theater in which performances are produced or presented by mechanical or automated devices (a mechanical or automated theatre).
The museum displayed a 19th-century autotheater that mechanically animated miniature scenes.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/29 04:10