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on which a person writes or speaks; a proposition for discussion or argument; a text. My theme is alway one and ever was. Chaucer. And when a soldier was the theme, my name Was not far off. Shak.

The act of breathing in; inspiration. [R.] The special and immediate suggestion, embreathement, and dictation of the Holy Ghost. W. Lee.

The act of enswathing, or the state of being enswathed.

The natural day and night, or space of twenty-four hours.

The subject matter of a discourse, writing, or artistic representation; theme or topic; also, an abstract or summary, as of the contents of a book, chapter, poem. You and love are still my argument. Shak. The abstract or argument of the piece. Jeffrey. [Shields] with boastful argument portrayed. Milton.…

Diverging from, or tributary to, a main stock, line, way, theme, etc.; as, a branch vein; a branch road or line; a branch topic; a branch store.

The verse repeated in a song, or the return of the theme at the end of each stanza; the chorus; refrain. Hence: That which is often repeated or which is dwelt upon; the main topic; as, the burden of a prayer. I would sing my song without a burden. Shak.

A piece in a free form, with frequent digressions from the theme; a fantasia; -- often called caprice.

A fight in which centaurs take part, -- a common theme for relief sculpture, as in the Parthenon metopes.

r measure, like the Passacaglia, which is slower. Both are used by classical composers as themes for variations.

The answer to the theme (dux) in a fugue.

exploits of the hero or heroes of some particular period which have severed as a popular theme for poetry, as the legend aof Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, and that of Charlemagne and his paladins.

Pertaining to declamation; treated in the manner of a rhetorician; as, a declamatory theme.

Detraction; depreciation. [Obs.] To stubborn critics, apt, without a theme, For depravation. Shak.

A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments. Upon that simplest of themes how magnificent a descant! De Quincey.

The elaboration of a theme or subject; the unfolding of a musical idea; the evolution of a whole piece or movement from a leading theme or motive. Development theory (Biol.), the doctrine that animals and plants possess the power of passing by slow and successive stages from a lower to a higher state of organization, a…

A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and frequently repeated; a theme. O, too high ditty for my simple rhyme. Spenser.

ss; as, a dream of bliss; the dream of his youth. There sober thought pursued the amusing theme, Till Fancy colored it and formed a dream. Pope. It is not them a mere dream, but a very real aim which they propose. J. C. Shairp.

The scholastic name for the theme or subject of a fugue, the answer being called the comes, or companion.

developed or executed with care and in minute detail; as, the carefully elaborated theme. Syn. -- detailed, elaborate. [WordNet 1.5]