Odeon

In the UK most Odeon cinemas were purpose-built by the company, catering for an audience who relied on this medium as a cheap means of entertainment and news, back in the days when television sets were luxuries only the extremely wealthy could afford. Many of the cinemas were lavishly designed and used architectural styles that were daring and ahead of their time. Some of the finest examples were destroyed by bombing during the Second World War and others still were pulled down in the immediate post-War years, but most of those remaining now have "listed" status, meaning that at least some of these fine buildings are likely to remain within Britain's towns and cities.

O*de"on (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. , fr. : cf.F. od'eon. See Ode.]

A kind of theater in ancient Greece, smaller than the dramatic theater and roofed over, in which poets and musicians submitted their works to the approval of the public, and contended for prizes; -- hence, in modern usage, the name of a hall for musical or dramatic performances.

© Webster 1913.