Theme :  (noun)
1: the subject matter of a conversation or discussion; "he didn't want to discuss that subject"; "it was a very sensitive topic"; "his letters were always on the theme of love" [syn: subject, topic]
2: a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work; "it was the usual `boy gets girl' theme" [syn: motif]
3: (music) melodic subject of a musical composition; "the theme is announced in the first measures"; "the accompanist ... ( more )

(_) Expand Definition

IC analysis, accidence, action, affix, affixation, allomorph, anagnorisis, angle, architectonics, architecture, argument, article, atmosphere, background, background detail, basis, bound morpheme, burden, case, catastrophe, causerie, chapter, characterization, color, complication, composition, concept, concern, conjugation, continuity, contrivance, core, cutting, declension, decorative composition, decorative style, denouement, derivation, descant, design, detail, development, device, difference of form, discourse, discussion, disquisition, dissertation, enclitic, episode, essay, essence, etude, examination, excursus, exercise, exposition, fable, falling action, feature, figure, first approach, focus of attention, focus of interest, foil, foreground detail, form, formative, free form, gimmick, gist, head, heading, homily, idea, immediate constituent analysis, incident, infix, infixation, inflection, introductory study, issue, keynote, leitmotiv, line, living issue, local color, lucubration, main point, matter, matter in hand, meat, memoir, monograph, mood, morceau, morph, morpheme, morphemic analysis, morphemics, morphology, morphophonemics, motif, motive, movement, mythos, national style, note, notion, ornamental motif, outline, pandect, paper, paradigm, paragraph, pattern, period style, peripeteia, phrase, piece, plan, plot, point, point at issue, point in question, prefix, prefixation, preliminary study, problem, proclitic, prolegomenon, question, radical, recognition, repeated figure, research paper, review, rising action, root, rubric, scheme, screed, secondary plot, setting, sketch, slant, special article, stem, story, structure, study, style, subject, subject matter, subject of thought, subplot, substance, suffix, suffixation, survey, switch, term paper, text, thematic development, thesis, thread, tone, topic, touch, tract, tractate, treatise, treatment, twist, word-formation,