Only mentioned in Acts 19:29, 31. The ruins of this theatre at Ephesus still exist, and they show that it was a magnificent structure, capable of accommodating some 56,700 persons. It was the largest structure of the kind that ever existed. Theatres, as places of amusement, were unknown to the Jews.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) An edifice in which dramatic performances or spectacles are exhibited for the amusement of spectators; anciently uncovered, except the stage, but in modern times roofed.

2. (n.) Any room adapted to the exhibition of any performances before an assembly, as public lectures, scholastic exercises, anatomical demonstrations, surgical operations, etc.

3. (n.) That which resembles a theater in form, use, or the like; a place rising by steps or gradations, like the seats of a theater.

4. (n.) A sphere or scheme of operation.

5. (n.) A place or region where great events are enacted; as, the theater of war.