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Applause (Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily the expression of approval by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performance, such as a musical concert, speech, play or a performance to mark the sign of enjoyment and approval. In most countries audience members clap their hands at random to produce a constant noise. It tends to synchronize naturally to a weak degree; in Russia, Norway and many northern and eastern European countries synchronized clapping is more popular than random clapping. As a form of mass nonverbal communication, it is a simple indicator of the average relative opinion of the entire group; the louder and longer the noise, the stronger the sign of approval. ==History== The custom of applauding may be as old and as widespread as humanity, and the variety of its forms is limited only by the capacity for devising means of making a noise (e.g., stomping of feet or rapping of fists or hands on a table). Within each culture, however, it is usually subject to conventions. The ancient Romans had a set ritual of applause for public performances, expressing degrees of approval: snapping the finger and thumb, clapping with the flat or hollow palm, waving the flap of the toga, emperor Aurelian substituted the waving of napkins (''orarium'') that he had distributed to the Roman people for the toga flapping. 〔(Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, page 843 )〕 In Roman theatre, at the close of the play, the chief actor called out "Valete et plaudite!", and the audience, guided by an unofficial choregus, chanted their applause antiphonally. This was often organized and paid for.〔Böttiger, ''Über das Applaudieren im Theater bei den Alten'', Leipz., 1822〕 Similarly, a claque (French for "clapping") was an organized body of professional applauders in French theatres and opera houses who were paid by the performer(s) to create the illusion of an increased level of approval by the audience. In Christianity, customs of the theatre were adopted by the churches. Eusebius 〔''Church History'', vii. 30〕 says that Paul of Samosata encouraged the congregation to applaud his preaching by waving linen cloths (οθοναις), and in the 4th and 5th centuries applause of the rhetoric of popular preachers had become an established custom. Applause in church eventually fell out of fashion, however, and partly by the influence of the quasi-religious atmosphere of the performances of Richard Wagner's operas at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, the reverential spirit that inspired this soon extended back to the theatre and the concert hall. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Applause」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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