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

In just 15 minutes at a Manhattan arcade, the 20-year-old college student and her boyfriend had collected three prizes from the rows of claw machines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

We went to this arcade bar called Neon Retro.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Gilligan, a judge on popular ITV series The Masked Singer, recalled spending days on the beach and riding the log flume at the fun park as well playing the penny arcade machines.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

The company, he said, will open a "cultural, artistic, fashion, art, retail food experience" in Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the ornate 19th century shopping arcade where the first Prada boutique opened in 1913.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

Outside the paseo was going in under the arcade.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Far from the solemn pomp of the Vatican, nestled under the arcades of the mountain town of Santarcangelo di Romagna, a tailor clad all in black leaned over his sketch.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

Reductions to tax relief for vape shops and gambling arcades will help to pay for the £100 million a year cost of the measure.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

Eleri said it eventually became a business and she made £35,000 in profit before opening the shop in one of Cardiff's arcades this week.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026

Instead of water parks and arcades there are private spas and secluded pools.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 18, 2026

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

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

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2014

From arcaded passageways, the museums open onto a domed chapel and a peaceful courtyard with the new Charité Café and a general bookstore.

From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2013

History and Coffee During the Roman era, some 20,000 spectators would fill the stone seats of the arcaded amphitheater in what is now Piazza Sant’Oronzo.

From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2013

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

Colleges in Britain, as early as the 1200s, were in their general equipment much like monastic establishments, grouped about an arcaded cloister, and were halls of residence for communities of teachers and students.

From Virginia Architecture in the Seventeenth Century by Henry Chandlee Forman

There are three apses; the middle one has two rows of blind arcading with ornamental brickwork above.

From Cathedral Cities of Italy by William Wiehe Collins

It may be mentioned here that underneath these last windows, on the outside, there is an arcading with simple pointed arches which does not appear on the other transept.

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

There is an open arcading on each side, extending to the piers of the presbytery.

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

The front has a large late Norman portal of four orders, with rich Early English arcading above; the nave arcade is ornate Norman.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 "Dubner" to "Dyeing" by Various

Without further speech they turned into it, and rode on beneath the shadow of trees, whose branches, arcading over, hindered sight of the sun.

From No Quarter! by Mayne Reid

Related Words

• gallery
• mall
• walkway