Films

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /fɪlmz/

Definitions

1. A thin, often transparent layer spread over a surface ; a series of moving images recorded and shown as entertainment or art
2. A delicate coating or membrane covering an object ; a story told through recorded visual sequences
3. A fine layer on a surface, usually barely visible ; a production of images projected to create a narrative or artistic experience

Etymology: The plural of "films" is simply the plural of "film," so the story belongs to the singular. The noun began in Old English as "filmen," meaning a membrane or thin skin, and the same root shows up in ancient Greek "pelma," meaning the sole of the foot. The Proto-Indo-European root "pel-" meant "to cover," which explains why so many words for skins, hides and fleece cluster around it. The sense of a thin coating of something arrived in English around 1577. Its move into photography came much later: by 1845 it described the chemical gel coating photographic plates, and by 1895 it could also refer to that coating together with the paper or celluloid backing. Cinema then borrowed the word for the strip of coated celluloid that carried moving pictures, so the modern sense of a film as entertainment grew directly out of the photographic meaning.

Synonyms: movies, motion pictures, cinema, features, flicks

Antonyms: books, theater