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Glite Dictionary
picture palace

picture palace

1 8.9
An old-fashioned cinema where films are shown to the public
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : cine
  • Chryskylodon's motion picture palace.
  • motion picture palace

Examples

  • NEW YORK MOTION PICTURE PALACE?

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The historic picture palace is still popular for screening classic films on weekends.

  • Last night, we watched a black-and-white movie in an old picture palace that had ornate decorations.

  • Many residents remember going to the picture palace as children to see the latest films.

Synonyms

theater
vspicture palace
  • US
553 1.0

A building where people go to see plays or movies

is used mainly for film showings rather than general live performances
movie theater
vspicture palace
  • US
110 1.0

A building where people go to watch movies on a big screen

is the older, old-fashioned name for that same building
house
vspicture palace
97 5.9

A building where people go to watch plays or films

refers specifically to film showings rather than general performances
cinema
vspicture palace
65 1.0

A building where people go to watch films on a screen

is the older, old-fashioned name for that same building
movie house
vspicture palace
  • US
12 1.6

A building where people go to watch movies

is the older, old-fashioned name for that venue
multiplex
vspicture palace
  • Specialized
7 4.1

A cinema with several screens that shows different films at the same time

is an older single-screen term, not a multi-auditorium complex
cineplex
vspicture palace
  • US
2 3.4

A large movie theater with many screens showing different films at the same time

is the older, single-screen name not used for multi-screen venues
odeon
vspicture palace
  • UK
1 6.3

A building where people go to watch films

is an older, more decorative word for such film venues
cine
vspicture palace
  • UK
1 6.0

A building where people go to watch movies

is a more old-fashioned, theatrical-sounding word than modern usage
cinematograph
vspicture palace
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A building where people go to watch films

is similar but feels more nostalgic and dated in tone
multiscreen
vspicture palace
3.9

A cinema with several rooms showing different films

is the older single-screen name rather than a modern multi-screen complex

How Grand

picture palace
  • Archaic
1 8.9
cinema
65 1.0

Surface Forms

picture palace singular
picture palaces plural

Morphology

picture + palace

The meaning 'cinema' is directly derivable from combining 'picture' (motion picture/film) with 'palace' (a large or grand building), yielding the notion of a grand venue for films. Although somewhat dated/poetic, this compositional pattern is predictable and understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Picture palace comes from early movie theatres that were built to look like a grand house or palace. People used picture for 'moving pictures' and palace for the fancy building, so the name came to mean 'a cinema'.