- cinema
- 1899, "a movie hall," from Fr. cinéma, shortened from cinématographe, coined 1890s by Lumiere brothers, who invented it, from Gk. kinema "movement," from kinein "to move" (see cite). Meaning "movies collectively, especially as an art form" first recorded 1918. Cinéma vérité is 1963, from Fr.; Cinerama, proprietary name, is from 1951.
- Roxy
- cinema chain built by U.S. radio and film entrepreneur Samuel Lionel Rothafel (1882-1936).
- New Wave
- 1960, of cinema (from Fr. Nouvelle Vague, late 1950s); 1976 as a name for the more restrained and melodic alternative to punk rock.
- Sammy
- British slang for "U.S. soldier in World War I," 1918, a ref. to Uncle Sam.
"A Sammie may be defined as an American soldier as he appears in an English newspaper or a French cinema. It is a name he did not invent, does not like, never uses and will not recognize." ["Stars & Stripes," March 29, 1918]
- cine
- abbreviation of cinema used in compounds or as a stand-alone, 1928, perhaps partly from Fr. ciné (1917).
- cliffhanger
- "suspenseful situation," 1937, in ref. to U.S. cinema serials, from cliff + hang. In some cases, esp. Westerns, the hero or heroine literally was dangling from a cliff at the end of an episode.
- deep
- O.E. deop, from P.Gmc. *deupaz, from PIE *d(e)u- "deep, hollow" (cf. O.C.S. duno "bottom, foundation," O.Ir. domun "world," via sense development from "bottom" to "foundation" to "earth" to "world"). Figurative sense was in O.E.; extended 16c. to color, sound. Deep pocket "wealth" is from 1951. Deep-freeze was a registered trademark (U.S. Patent Office, 1941) of a type of refrigerator; used generically for "cold storage" since 1949. To go off the deep end "lose control of oneself" is slang first recorded 1921, probably in reference to the deep end of a swimming pool, where a person on the surface can no longer touch bottom. When 3-D films seemed destined to be the next wave and the biggest thing to hit cinema since "talkies," they were known as deepies (1953). The gods have spared us.
- screen (n.)
- 1393, probably from an aphetic (Anglo-Fr.?) variant of O.N.Fr. escren, O.Fr. escran "a screen against heat" (1318), perhaps from M.Du. scherm "screen, cover," or Frank. *skrank "barrier," from a Gmc. root related to O.H.G. skirm, skerm "protection" (cf. skirmish). Meaning "net-wire frame used in windows and doors" is recorded from 1895. Meaning "flat horizontal surface for reception of projected images" is from 1810, originally in ref. to magic lantern shows; later of movies. Transf. sense of "cinema world collectively" is attested from 1914; hence screenplay (1938), screen test (1922), screenwriter (1921). Verbal meaning "to shield from punishment, to conceal" is recorded from 1485; meaning "examine systematically for suitability" is from 1943; sense of "to release a movie" is from 1915. Screen saver first attested 1990.