Phrase guide

box office

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈbɒksˌɒfɪs/
  • US: bäksʹä'fĭs
  • US: bäksʹô'fĭs
  • US: /ˈbɑksˌɑfɪs/
  • US: /ˈbɑksˌɔfɪs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A place where tickets are sold in a theatre/theater or cinema.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: broadcasting, entertainment, film, lifestyle, media, television, theater

Examples

  • The movie tanked at the box office.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The total amount of money paid by people worldwide to watch a movie at cinemas/movie theaters.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, uncountable

Topics: broadcasting, film, media, television

Examples

  • box office receipts

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Quality of an entertainment or spectacle that makes it very popular with the public, or likely to be so.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • His performance last night was pure box office.
  • A show that makes great box office.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the office where tickets of admission are sold

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ticket office, ticket booth

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: office, business office

5

noun

Meaning 5

total admission receipts for an entertainment

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gross, revenue, receipts

History

Etymology

1786, presumably from sales of boxes, box seats (“separated private seating”). Sense of “total sales” from 1904. Folk etymology is that this derives from Elizabethan theatre, where theater admission was collected in a box attached to a long stick, passed around the audience. However, the term is first attested over a century later (theaters were closed in 1642), making this highly unlikely.

Across languages

Translations

37 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: տոմսարկղ (tomsarkġ) — ticket office
  • Catalan: taquilla — ticket office
  • Chinese Mandarin: 票房 (piàofáng) — ticket office
  • Chinese Mandarin: 售票處 /售票处 (shòupiàochù) — ticket office
  • Finnish: lippukassa — ticket office
  • Finnish: lippumyymälä — ticket office
  • French: billetterie — ticket office
  • French: guichet — ticket office
  • Galician: bileteira — ticket office
  • German: Schalter — ticket office
  • German: Kasse — ticket office
  • Greek: ταμείο (tameío) — ticket office
  • Hungarian: jegypénztár — ticket office
  • Icelandic: miðasala — ticket office
  • Italian: biglietteria — ticket office
  • Italian: botteghino — ticket office
  • Japanese: 切符売場 (kippu uriba) — ticket office
  • Japanese: 出札所 (shussatsujo) — ticket office
  • Macedonian: билета́рница (biletárnica) — ticket office
  • Macedonian: ка́са (kása) — ticket office
  • Norwegian Bokmål: billettkontor — ticket office
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: billettkontor — ticket office
  • Polish: box office — ticket office
  • Portuguese: bilheteria — ticket office
  • Romanian: casă de bilete — ticket office
  • Russian: биле́тная ка́сса (bilétnaja kássa) — ticket office
  • Russian: ка́сса (kássa) — ticket office
  • Russian: бу́дка (búdka) — ticket office
  • Spanish: taquilla — ticket office
  • Spanish: boletería — ticket office
  • Swedish: biljettkassa — ticket office
  • Tagalog: takilya — ticket office
  • Turkish: gişe — ticket office
  • Vietnamese: phòng vé — ticket office
  • Spanish: taquilla — total amount of money
  • Spanish: taquillas — total amount of money
  • Spanish: taquillaje — total amount of money