Stadium
/ˈsteɪ.di.əm/noun
A sports arena or a large venue for public events.
Did you know?In ancient Greece, a stadion was both a unit of length and the footrace held over that distance, so the modern arena name comes from a word tied to measuring a race by how far people could run and stand.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*stā-
“to stand”
Ancient Greek
Greek
στάδιον (stadion)
“a measure of length; later, a footrace of that length”
Latin
Latin
stadium
“a racecourse or course for running”
Late Latin / Old French
Latin / Old French
estadium / estade
“a course for racing; a place for contests”
Middle English
English
stadioun / stadium
“a racecourse or arena”
Modern English
English
stadium
“a large sports arena”