noun
theater
A region where military operations take place.
The historian examines the Pacific theater of the war.
Etymology
Theater broadened from a place for performance to a setting for major events. A military theater is the geographic setting of a campaign.
More examples
- Several theaters required separate commands.
- The army transferred units to another theater.
- The map marked the main theater of operations.
Forms
theater · theaters
Similar words
- front
- The area of active confrontation rather than an entire operational region.
- war zone
- An area affected by war, without the same command-region meaning.