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 might get some candy to really feel the arcade vibes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

The idea of opening a vaccination clinic inside a town centre shopping arcade seemed odd to some of the staff when it was first suggested.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 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

Most of them were gathered around the row of old arcade games against the wall.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Plus, claw arcades bring life back to malls and the FTC says dynamic pricing requires disclosure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 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

The homeless charity Shelter referred the pair, who enjoyed a week in Skegness on Skyla's birthday for a weekend of swimming, arcades, and "letting their hair down".

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 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

The wind whipped down the open walkway, through various sideshows, fun houses, and arcades, all grated over and shut down for the night.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older

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

Beyond the main arches is a small arcaded triforium, and above this a circular window to each bay.

From Glories of Spain by Charles W. (William) Wood

These sills are panelled with a foliated arcading, and in front of the passage there is an open trefoil work parapet.

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 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 Rev. Thomas Perkins

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

This arcading is almost entirely new; what there was of it until recently was principally of plaster.

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

Related Words

• gallery
• mall
• walkway