Dictionary

odeon en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈəʊdɪən/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ᾠδεῖον (ōideîon), from ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”) + -εῖον (-eîon, noun-forming suffix meaning “place or building associated with a specific purpose or person”).

Meanings

1. An ancient Greek or Roman building used for performances of music and poetry.
   • However, the significance of this transformation should not be overstated: it was not converted in to a church until the 6th c., and political meetings are attested in the nearby odeon, from late acclamations. Sagalassos is in fact the only eastern bouleuterion to show decay in the 5th c. Other examples are known that are generically dated to Late Antiquity: from Aizanoi and Ptolemais, both with bouleuteria-odea converted to aquatic spectacles, from Selge, where the building was converted into a church, and from Seleuceia-Lyrbe, where the building seems to have been transformed into a row of shops. 2021, Luke Lavan, Public Space in the Late Antique City, Brill, →ISBN, page 310:
   • Based on its small size, the excavators have suggested it may have been an odeon with a seating capacity of between 150 and 200 people; see Uziel, Lieberman, and Solomon (2019, 245–48). Odea were, initially at least, designed for small-scale concerts and recitals; but this distinction blurred over time and varied depending upon the size and resources of individual cities. 2023, Courtney J. P. Friesen, Acting Gods, Playing Heroes, and the Interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Greek Drama in the Early Common Era, Routledge, →ISBN, page 30:
   • The other building type similar to theatres, although smaller and generally roofed, was the odeon. Unlike theatres and amphitheatres, odea were not built in all of the larger Roman towns, although they became more common in the second century ad. 1986, John H. Humphrey, Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 3:
2. A theatre or concert hall.

Forms

Deriveds

nickelodeon · melodeon · Nickelodeon

Translations (20)

pt odeão (modern theatre or concert hall) · el ωδείο (ancient Greek or Roman building) · ca odèon (ancient Greek or Roman building) · pt odeão (ancient Greek or Roman building) · fr odée (ancient Greek or Roman building) · fi konserttitalo (modern theatre or concert hall) · bg концертна зала (modern theatre or concert hall) · id odeon (ancient Greek or Roman building) · fr odéon (ancient Greek or Roman building) · pt odeom (modern theatre or concert hall) · grc ᾠδεῖον (ancient Greek or Roman building) · ru одео́н (ancient Greek or Roman building) · fi odeion (ancient Greek or Roman building) · it odeo (ancient Greek or Roman building) · uk одео́н (ancient Greek or Roman building) · bg одеон (ancient Greek or Roman building) · la ōdēum (ancient Greek or Roman building) · it odeon (ancient Greek or Roman building) · pt odeom (ancient Greek or Roman building) · es odéon (ancient Greek or Roman building)