nickelodeon

[ nik-uh-loh-dee-uhn ]

noun

1. an early movie theater where a film or a variety show could be seen, usually for the admission price of a nickel.
2. an early jukebox that was operated by inserting nickels.

nickelodeon

/ ˌnɪkəˈləʊdɪən /

noun

1. an early form of jukebox
2. (formerly) a cinema charging five cents for admission
3. (formerly) a Pianola, esp one operated by inserting a five-cent piece

Word History and Origins

Origin of nickelodeon¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1885–90; nickel (in the sense of “coin”) + (mel)odeon

Word History and Origins

Origin of nickelodeon¹

C20: from nickel + ( mel ) odeon

Example Sentences

He couldn’t vanquish his writer’s block, and he could barely feed himself; he’d had a gig playing piano at a nickelodeon, but it didn’t last.

From New York Times

There were newfangled inventions: player pianos, phonographs and nickelodeons.

From New York Times

In those boom years, Clementon Park added one of the region’s first nickelodeon movie theaters and a new bathhouse.

From New York Times

Signing up a music-minded teenager who can write code to program this three-legged psychedelic nickelodeon?

From Los Angeles Times

If the technology had existed to make miniature “nickelodeon machines” for watching movies, the whole history of cinema would be different, he says.

From The Guardian