arcade

American  

[ahr-keyd] / ɑrˈkeɪd /

noun

arcades plural

1. Architecture.

   1. a series of arches supported on piers or columns.

   2. an arched, roofed-in gallery.

2. an arched or covered passageway, usually with shops on each side.

3. an establishment, public area, etc., containing games of a mechanical and electronic type, as pinball and video games, that can be played by a customer for a fee.

4. an ornamental carving, as on a piece of furniture, in the form of a row of arches.

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verb (used with object)

arcaded, arcading

1. to provide with an arcade.

arcade British  

/ ɑːˈkeɪd /

noun

1. a set of arches and their supporting columns

2. a covered and sometimes arched passageway, usually with shops on one or both sides

3. a building, or part of a building, with an arched roof

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• arcades
  plural

Etymology

Origin of arcade

First recorded in 1725–35; from French, from Italian arcata “arch,” equivalent to arc(o) “arch” + -ata; see arc -ate ¹

Explanation

An arcade is a structure made by enclosing a series of arches and columns. The word's roots go back to the Latin word "arcus," which means arc or bow. An arched, covered passageway with shops or stalls on the sides is also called an arcade and was a precursor to the shopping mall. The Burlington Arcade in London opened in 1819 and was the first shopping arcade of its kind in Britain. It still exists and is the longest covered shopping street in England. As more of these shopping arcades opened, they also began offering games and eventually the word's meaning came to include video arcades, where you can play coin-operated games.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

arcade arcades arcaded arcading

JP Orchison, one of the artists who performed that night in Hollywood, initially thought he would be DJing outside the arcade and not within it.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

Aesthetes had been howling about the Freedom 250 set, a soaring, 92-foot tall structure which resembled one of those arcade machine claws in which you try and fail to grab a stuffed hippopotamus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

Tearful supporters at a California Working Families Party shindig at the Mission Control bar and arcade in downtown Santa Ana hugged Lopez, gifted her flowers and wished her well.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

Beyond the arcade, visitors can enjoy mini golf, karaoke, themed events and monthly performances like Queer Circus.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

Once he was inside the arcade, Kyle’s ears were bombarded by the blare, buzz, and bells of three dozen educational video games.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein

The rest is “walk-in retail,” which includes bowling, arcades, food and beverage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

A famous bull mosaic in one of Italy's grand arcades is getting some much-needed care after being worn down by tourists honouring a tradition involving its delicate body parts.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

Some 80 percent of the 22,000 arcades Japan had in 1989 have shut down, but revenues have held up thanks to claw machines, according to the Japan Amusement Industry Association.

From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025

And while a modern Chuck E. Cheese is school-cafeteria bright, Chuck’s Arcade is dark, its black walls and low lighting recalling the arcades of the ’80s and ’90s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025

One of the topiary arcades that leads to the palace gardens holds peek-a-boo flowers that wink light.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Installed in the winter-bare garden of an ancient arcaded courtyard were vertical braziers holding firewood.

From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2018

There she attended the Secondary School of Design and Photography, housed in an arcaded Renaissance monastery.

From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2016

The chapel was very small with a domed, red-tiled roof and round arcaded windows.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2014

There are two streets which are arcaded, where activities are limited, eg preventing the playing of radios or busking.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 17, 2012

Brescia contains many fine palaces, and from the streets into which they open one often gets a glimpse, through the iron grille of their portals, of a charming arcaded court.

From Cathedral Cities of Italy by Collins, William Wiehe

The view from just inside the south porch showing the four rows of arcading separating the outer aisles from the inner, and these from the central nave, is very fine.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Manchester A Short History and Description of the Church and of the Collegiate Buildings now known as Chetham's Hospital by Perkins, Thomas, Rev.

Above both lower lights in this window is a renaissance arcading.

From Highways and Byways in Cambridge and Ely by Conybeare, Edward

The same suggestion may have influenced the builders of Ickleton Church to utilise this old Roman arcading, roofing in the enclosed space, but with a clerestory to prevent too great loss of light.

From Highways and Byways in Cambridge and Ely by Conybeare, Edward

The tone also of the nave arcading and clerestory rebuilt in recent years, of warm, rose-coloured sandstone, is very lovely.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Manchester A Short History and Description of the Church and of the Collegiate Buildings now known as Chetham's Hospital by Perkins, Thomas, Rev.

In this case the arcading has been altered to accommodate this obviously later addition, made probably in the early part of the fifteenth century.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See by Clifton, A. B.

Related Words

• gallery
• mall
• walkway