matinee

noun

mat·​i·​nee ˌma-tə-ˈnā 

variants or matinée

: a musical or dramatic performance or social or public event held in the daytime and especially the afternoon

The Saturday matinee was so crowded that we had to sit in the second row.

Did you know?

Soiree: A Fancy Evening Party

In English, soiree means “a fancy evening affair.” The word comes directly from French and was formed from the word soir, meaning “evening” or “night.” The French make a subtle distinction between soir, which refers explicitly to the time of day following sunset, and soirée, which refers to some duration of time, usually translated as “evening.” English speakers don’t use different words, but we understand the difference between “I’ll see you tomorrow evening” and “We spent the evening playing cards”—one refers to a time of day and one refers to the passage of time. From the idea of a period of time evolved the second meaning of soirée: a party that takes place during the evening. As is typical for words that have been borrowed from modern French, soiree in English signifies the fancy version of a simple “party”: an evening event that is formal or refined in some way.

A third sense of soirée in French, “an evening performance,” has a parallel with matinée, from matin “morning. ” Matinée literally means “morning performance” in French but has come to mean “daytime or afternoon performance” in English. The “evening performance” meaning of soirée has not been adopted by English. Our Unabridged of 1934, however, did record both a verb soiree (meaning, presumably, “to hold or attend an evening party”) and the variant swarry, “so spelled in mimicry of mispronunciation.”

Soiree can be spelled in English using the acute accent as soirée, but is usually spelled without it.

Examples of matinee in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In addition to their public performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, The Peking Acrobats will give two student matinee shows to more than 1,500 local students as part of Poway OnStage’s Arts in Education program. —Elizabeth Marie Himchak, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Jan. 2025

Performances begin Wednesday and run through Feb. 2; the Jan. 25 matinee will be followed by a talk-back (with tea) with Mary Roosevelt, a direct descendant of Eleanor. —Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2025

The Knicks entered Sunday’s matinee with a 25-14 record — good for third in the Eastern Conference — thanks largely to an excellent, and healthy, starting five. —Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 12 Jan. 2025

Birthday Girl Katie Holmes heads into the Barrymore Theater for a matinee performance of Our Town in New York City on Dec. 18, her 46th birthday. —Alexandra Schonfeld, People.com, 20 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French matinée, literally, morning, from Old French, from matin morning, from Latin matutinum, from neuter of matutinus of the morning, from Matuta, goddess of morning; akin to Latin maturus ripe — more at mature

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing matinee

• matinee idol

Kids Definition

matinee

noun

mat·​i·​nee

variants or matinée

ˌmat-ᵊn-ˈā 

: a theatrical performance held in the daytime and especially in the afternoon