fourth wall

== English == === Alternative forms === fourth-wall, 4th wall === Etymology === A reference to the three walls of a box set, with the fourth wall being the imaginary wall separating the performers from the audience. Coined by philosopher and art critic Denis Diderot in 1758 and thus a calque of French quatrième mur. === Pronunciation === === Noun === fourth wall (plural fourth walls) (performing arts, idiomatic) The imaginary invisible wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. (by extension) The boundary between the fiction and the audience. ==== Derived terms ==== fourth wall joke break the fourth wall ==== Translations ==== === References ===