Idea vs. Theme — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Idea and Theme
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Compare with Definitions
Idea
In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are abstract concepts. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object.
Theme
A topic of discourse or discussion.
Idea
A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action
Recently, the idea of linking pay to performance has caught on
It's a good idea to do some research before you go
Theme
A subject of artistic representation.
Idea
The aim or purpose
I took a job with the idea of getting some money together
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Theme
An implicit or recurrent idea; a motif
A party with a tropical island theme.
Idea
(in Platonic thought) an eternally existing pattern of which individual things in any class are imperfect copies.
Theme
A short composition assigned to a student as a writing exercise.
Idea
Something, such as a thought or conception, that is the product of mental activity.
Theme
(Music) A recurring melodic element in a composition, especially a melody forming the basis of a set of variations.
Idea
An opinion, conviction, or principle
Has some strange political ideas.
Theme
See topic.
Idea
A plan, purpose, or goal
She started school with the idea of becoming a doctor.
Theme
A stem.
Idea
The gist or significance
The idea of the article is that investing in green technology can save you money in the long run.
Theme
A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.
Idea
A sense that something can happen; a notion or expectation
They have this idea that we can just drop what we're doing and go to the park.
Theme
A recurring idea; a motif.
Idea
(Music) A theme or motif.
Theme
A concept with multiple instantiations.
Variations on the theme of entrepreneurial resourcefulness
Idea
In the philosophy of Plato, a non-physical form or archetype to which beings in phenomenal reality correspond only as imperfect replicas.
Theme
Any of various colors, or color palettes, in which a design is offered; (GUI) any of various skins for an app, affecting the visuals and perhaps other elements such as sound effects.
Switch to a dark theme to conserve battery power
Idea
In the philosophy of Kant, a concept of reason that is transcendent but nonempirical.
Theme
(dated) An essay written for school.
Idea
In the philosophy of Hegel, absolute truth; the complete and ultimate product of reason.
Theme
(music) The main melody of a piece of music, especially one that is the source of variations.
Idea
(Obsolete) A mental image of something remembered.
Theme
A song, or a snippet of a song, that identifies a film, a TV program, a character, etc. by playing at the appropriate time.
Idea
(philosophy) An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.
Theme
(grammar) The stem of a word.
Idea
(obsolete) The conception of someone or something as representing a perfect example; an ideal.
Theme
(linguistics) thematic relation of a noun phrase to a verb.
Idea
(obsolete) The form or shape of something; a quintessential aspect or characteristic.
Theme
(linguistics) Theta role in generative grammar and government and binding theory.
Idea
An image of an object that is formed in the mind or recalled by the memory.
The mere idea of you is enough to excite me.
Theme
(linguistics) Topic, what is generally being talked about, as opposed to rheme.
Idea
More generally, any result of mental activity; a thought, a notion; a way of thinking.
Theme
A regional unit of organisation in the Byzantine empire.
Idea
A conception in the mind of something to be done; a plan for doing something, an intention.
I have an idea of how we might escape.
Theme
(transitive) To give a theme to.
We themed the birthday party around superheroes.
Idea
A purposeful aim or goal; intent
Yeah, that's the idea.
Theme
To apply a theme to; to change the visual appearance and/or layout of (software).
Idea
A vague or fanciful notion; a feeling or hunch; an impression.
He had the wild idea that if he leant forward a little, he might be able to touch the mountain-top.
Theme
A subject or topic on which a person writes or speaks; a proposition for discussion or argument; a text.
My theme is alway one and ever was.
And when a soldier was the theme, my nameWas not far off.
Idea
(music) A musical theme or melodic subject.
Theme
Discourse on a certain subject.
Then ran repentance and rehearsed his theme.
It was the subject of my theme.
Idea
The transcript, image, or picture of a visible object, that is formed by the mind; also, a similar image of any object whatever, whether sensible or spiritual.
Her sweet idea wandered through his thoughts.
Being the right idea of your fatherBoth in your form and nobleness of mind.
This representation or likeness of the object being transmitted from thence [the senses] to the imagination, and lodged there for the view and observation of the pure intellect, is aptly and properly called its idea.
Theme
A composition or essay required of a pupil.
Idea
A general notion, or a conception formed by generalization.
Alice had not the slightest idea what latitude was.
Theme
A noun or verb, not modified by inflections; also, that part of a noun or verb which remains unchanged (except by euphonic variations) in declension or conjugation; stem.
Idea
Hence: Any object apprehended, conceived, or thought of, by the mind; a notion, conception, or thought; the real object that is conceived or thought of.
Whatsoever the mind perceives in itself, or as the immediate object of perception, thought, or undersanding, that I call idea.
Theme
That by means of which a thing is done; means; instrument.
Idea
A belief, option, or doctrine; a characteristic or controlling principle; as, an essential idea; the idea of development.
That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one.
What is now "idea" for us? How infinite the fall of this word, since the time where Milton sang of the Creator contemplating his newly-created world, -"how it showed . . . Answering his great idea," -to its present use, when this person "has an idea that the train has started," and the other "had no idea that the dinner would be so bad!"
Theme
The leading subject of a composition or a movement.
Idea
A plan or purpose of action; intention; design.
I shortly afterwards set off for that capital, with an idea of undertaking while there the translation of the work.
Theme
The subject matter of a conversation or discussion;
He didn't want to discuss that subject
It was a very sensitive topic
His letters were always on the theme of love
Idea
A rational conception; the complete conception of an object when thought of in all its essential elements or constituents; the necessary metaphysical or constituent attributes and relations, when conceived in the abstract.
Theme
A unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work;
It was the usual `boy gets girl' theme
Idea
A fiction object or picture created by the imagination; the same when proposed as a pattern to be copied, or a standard to be reached; one of the archetypes or patterns of created things, conceived by the Platonists to have excited objectively from eternity in the mind of the Deity.
Thence to behold this new-created world,The addition of his empire, how it showedIn prospect from his throne, how good, how fair,Answering his great idea.
Theme
(music) melodic subject of a musical composition;
The theme is announced in the first measures
The accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it
Idea
The content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about;
It was not a good idea
The thought never entered my mind
Theme
An essay (especially one written as an assignment);
He got an A on his composition
Idea
A personal view;
He has an idea that we don't like him
Theme
(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed;
Thematic vowels are part of the stem
Idea
An approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth;
An estimate of what it would cost
A rough idea how long it would take
Theme
Provide with a particular theme or motive;
The restaurant often themes its menus
Idea
Your intention; what you intend to do;
He had in mind to see his old teacher
The idea of the game is to capture all the pieces
Idea
(music) melodic subject of a musical composition;
The theme is announced in the first measures
The accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it
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