subject, topic, 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" theme, motif: a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work; "it was the usual `boy gets girl' theme" theme, melodic_theme, musical_theme, 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" composition, paper, report, theme: an essay (especially one written as an assignment); "he got an A on his composition" root, root_word, base, stem, theme, radical: (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" theme: provide with a particular theme or motive; "the restaurant often themes its menus"