amphitheatrical

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am·phi·the·a·ter

(ăm′fə-thē′ə-tər, ăm′pə-)

1. An oval or circular structure having tiers of seats rising gradually outward from a central open space or arena.

2. Geology A level area surrounded by upward sloping ground.

3. An upper, sloping gallery with seats for spectators, as in a theater or operating room.

[Middle English amphitheatre, from Latin amphitheātrum, from Greek amphitheātron : amphi-, amphi- + theātron, theater; see theater.]

am′phi·the·at′ric (-ăt′rĭk), am′phi·the·at′ri·cal adj.

am′phi·the·at′ri·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Adj.

amphitheatrical - of or related to an amphitheater

amphitheatric

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amphitheatric

References in classic literature ?

Then, again, in mountainous countries where the traveller is continually girdled by amphitheatrical heights; here and there from some lucky point of view you will catch passing glimpses of the profiles of whales defined along the undulating ridges.

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About five miles distant in front, another line of cliff extends, which thus appears completely to encircle the valley; and hence the name of bay is justified, as applied to this grand amphitheatrical depression.

The first impression, on seeing the correspondence of the horizontal strata on each side of these valleys and great amphitheatrical depressions, is that they have been hollowed out, like other valleys, by the action of water; but when one reflects on the enormous amount of stone, which on this view must have been removed through mere gorges or chasms, one is led to ask whether these spaces may not have subsided.

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They were congregated round a vast inclosure; they were elevated on amphitheatrical wooden stands, and they were perched on the roofs of horseless carriages, drawn up in rows.