We kind of borrowed most of it. To use one of the OP's original choices, theatre comes via modern French (théâtre) from Old French (don't know the spelling, sorry) from Latin (theatrum) from Greek (theatron). Thea is a view or action and tron is a location, so theatron a place where you can see actions happen (a theatre).
Offshoots of this were the changing meaning of "thea" to mean action as in military action. That's why we now say theatre of war. There's also the thea in anaesthesia where ana or anae means "lack of", so anaesthesia becomes the lack of a view (i.e. unconscious).
I'm English and it obviously grates that another country will tell me how to spell my own language. But it's been happening ever since written language existed and being English doesn't make me so special that I'm protected from it. Quite the opposite, in fact, because English itself isn't English. It's Greek, and Latin, and French, and Saxon, and Indian, and a whole bunch of other things.
It's just our turn to relinquish control of the lingua franca. Pun intended.
Very true, language had to have started somewhere in some vague way, where we would copy others sounds to convey an action or item. My point was just that, like you said, we shouldn't be told how to spell when there is no problem having both spellings.
American English or British English
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We kind of borrowed most of it. To use one of the OP's original choices, theatre comes via modern French (théâtre) from Old French (don't know the spelling, sorry) from Latin (theatrum) from Greek (theatron). Thea is a view or action and tron is a location, so theatron a place where you can see actions happen (a theatre).
Offshoots of this were the changing meaning of "thea" to mean action as in military action. That's why we now say theatre of war. There's also the thea in anaesthesia where ana or anae means "lack of", so anaesthesia becomes the lack of a view (i.e. unconscious).
I'm English and it obviously grates that another country will tell me how to spell my own language. But it's been happening ever since written language existed and being English doesn't make me so special that I'm protected from it. Quite the opposite, in fact, because English itself isn't English. It's Greek, and Latin, and French, and Saxon, and Indian, and a whole bunch of other things.
It's just our turn to relinquish control of the lingua franca. Pun intended.
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Very true, language had to have started somewhere in some vague way, where we would copy others sounds to convey an action or item. My point was just that, like you said, we shouldn't be told how to spell when there is no problem having both spellings.