plaza

American  

[plah-zuh, plaz-uh] / ˈplɑ zə, ˈplæz ə /

noun

• plazas
  plural

1. a public square or open space in a city or town.

2. shopping plaza.

3. an area along an expressway where public facilities, as service stations and restrooms, are available.

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plaza British  

/ ˈplaθa, ˈplɑːzə /

noun

1. an open space or square, esp in Spain or a Spanish-speaking country

2. 1. a modern complex of shops, buildings, and parking areas

   2. ( capital when part of a name )

      Rockefeller Plaza

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• plazas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of plaza

First recorded in 1675–85; from Spanish, from Latin platea “street,” from Greek plateîa “broad street”; see place

Explanation

A plaza is an urban park or square, or another public space where people can walk, sit, and congregate. You might, for example, tell your friend to meet you in the plaza downtown with the big horse statue. There are plazas that are mainly open spaces for pedestrians, sometimes including statues, fountains, and benches, like Washington DC's Freedom Plaza or Union Square in New York. Other plazas are more commercial, offering room to stroll and sit but also stores and restaurants. In Spanish, plaza simply means "place," and the earliest plazas were built in Spanish colonies in South America and the East Indies.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plaza plazas

From the vendor selling paletas in the plaza to guests at a five-star hotel, she is instantly recognized and surrounded by people seeking selfies and hugs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

The work of artist and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto, the new garden has been expanded to some 60 sculptures while its relationship to the National Mall and to the Hirshhorn Museum’s plaza has been strengthened.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Forbes was also a public figure in a proposal to redevelop Fisherman’s Wharf, which envisions constructing a public plaza and adding a new overlook and lighting to the wharf’s inner lagoon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Price’s rendition of “De Colores” sounds and feels like you’re standing in a sun-drenched plaza.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026

These Indian squadrons began to enter the plaza to the accompaniment of great songs, and thus entering they occupied every part of the plaza.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Camps for families left homeless have sprung up in stadiums, plazas and on sidewalks.

From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026

The local government announced on social media that the site was "full" and suggested fans go to other plazas.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

Elders get their hearing checked and play mahjongg and practice calligraphy in the shade of empty plazas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2026

On one of the city’s tree-lined plazas, Lia Mashaka runs a business helping Americans move to the Mediterranean city, from navigating visas to finding a pediatrician.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

As with Gothic churches, which had plazas for the outdoor performance of sacred mystery plays, the mounds had greens before them: ritual spaces for public use.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• park
• square