a theater where films are shown
"We spent the whole evening at the cinema watching the latest blockbuster."
A movie theatre, a movie house
"We decided to skip dinner and head straight for the cinema to catch the new release before it closes early."
In plain English: Cinema is the art of making and watching movies on a big screen.
"We went to the cinema last night to see the new movie."
Usage: Use "cinema" to refer to the building where movies are shown or the art of filmmaking itself. Avoid using it simply as a synonym for watching a film, which should be described as going to the cinema or seeing a movie.
The word cinema comes from French cinéma, which was clipped from cinématographe-a term coined by the Lumière brothers in the 1890s for their early motion picture device. This root traces back to Ancient Greek words meaning "movement" and "to write," reflecting how the technology captured moving images.