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palaestra

[puh-les-truh]
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noun, plural pa·laes·tras, pa·laes·trae [puh-les-tree] /pəˈlɛs tri/.
  1. Greek Antiquity. palestra.
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palestra

or pa·laes·tra

[puh-les-truh]
noun, plural pa·les·tras, pa·les·trae [puh-les-tree] /pəˈlɛs tri/. Greek Antiquity.
  1. a public place for training or exercise in wrestling or athletics.
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Origin of palestra

1375–1425; late Middle English palestre < Latin palaestra a wrestling school, place of exercise < Greek palaístra, equivalent to palais-, variant stem of palaíein to wrestle + -tra feminine noun suffix of place
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for palaestra

Historical Examples

  • Thereupon I led Ctesippus into the Palaestra, and the rest followed.

    Lysis

    Plato

  • And at that moment all the people in the palaestra crowded about us, and, O rare!

  • Leave the forum, the palaestra, the race-course, and gymnasium?

  • Originally there was no communication between the women's baths and the palaestra.

  • First there was a court, palaestra, surrounded by a colonnade.

British Dictionary definitions for palaestra

palaestra

esp US palestra

noun plural -tras or -trae (-triː)
  1. (in ancient Greece or Rome) a public place devoted to the training of athletes
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Word Origin

C16: via Latin from Greek palaistra, from palaiein to wrestle

palestra

noun plural -tras or -trae (-triː)
  1. the usual US spelling of palaestra
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for palaestra

n.

see palestra.

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palestra

n.

early 15c., from Old French palestre (12c.), from Latin palaestra, from Greek palaistra "gymnasium, public place for exercise," originally "wrestling school," from palaiein "to wrestle" (of unknown origin) + -tra, suffix denoting place.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper