Themed

How to spell themed

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce themed

What does themed mean?

1. adjectiveDesigned, decorated, or organised around a particular subject or motif.
2. verbPast tense of theme: to have designed or arranged something around a particular subject.

Themed in a sentence

• adjective

  The hotel offers several themed rooms, including one styled after the 1950s.

• verb

  The organisers themed the whole conference around sustainability.

• adjective

  Her daughter wanted a dinosaur themed birthday party this year.

• verb

  They themed the wedding around vintage cinema, down to the ticket-style invitations.

Where does themed come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word builds on 'theme', which traces back to the Greek 'thema', literally 'something set down' or 'a proposition laid out for discussion', from the verb 'tithenai', meaning 'to place' or 'to put'. Latin took it as 'thema', and Old French carried it into Middle English as 'teme' during the 1300s, where it meant a subject of writing or a topic for an essay. Over time the spelling was reshaped towards the classical 'th-', restoring the look of its Greek ancestor and giving us the silent-looking 'eme' ending that trips writers up. The modern adjective and verb sense, meaning to design or decorate something around a single unifying subject, is comparatively recent and grew out of the entertainment and hospitality trades in the twentieth century. Adding the regular English '-ed' to 'theme' produces 'themed', so the trick is simply to remember the full base word sits intact inside it.

How the word is built

• theme (Greek thema: something set down, a topic)
• -ed (past participle/adjectival suffix)