house

Compared meaning: a building for performances or public gatherings (noun).

比较义项：供演出或公开集会用的建筑（剧院、礼堂）（名词）。

• house 本词

  An old-fashioned or formal word for a theater, mostly appearing in fixed phrases like 'opera house' or when talking about the audience/attendance ('a full house'); rarely used alone as the everyday word for a theater.

  house是较为正式、老式的说法，多出现在opera house（歌剧院）这样的固定搭配中，或用来指观众及上座情况（a full house），很少单独作为日常用词表示剧院。

  The opera house was packed for the premiere of the new ballet.

  那家歌剧院在新芭蕾舞剧首演当晚座无虚席。

• theater

  The ordinary, neutral word for a building where plays, films or other performances take place; used freely on its own in everyday speech.

  theater是日常、中性的说法，指上演戏剧、电影或其他表演的建筑物，日常口语中可以单独自由使用。

  We watched a matinee at the theater downtown last weekend.

  上周末我们在市中心的剧院看了一场日场演出。

Both words can name a building for shows or gatherings. House is rarely used alone, mostly in phrases like opera house or a full house. Theater is the everyday, standalone word. House's 'home' sense and theater's 'drama' sense are not compared here.

这两个词在这个义项上都能指供演出或集会用的建筑物，但house很少单独使用，多出现在opera house（歌剧院）、a full house（满座）等固定搭配或行话中；theater则是日常泛指剧院、电影院的普通用词，可以独立使用。这里不比较house的“住宅”义，也不比较theater的“戏剧艺术、戏剧界”这一抽象义。