palaestra

[ puh-les-truh ]

/ pəˈlɛs trə /

noun, plural pa·laes·tras, pa·laes·trae [puh-les-tree] /pəˈlɛs tri/.

Greek Antiquity. palestra.

Nearby words

palaeontol., palaeontology, palaeopathology, palaeozoic, palaeozoology, palaestra, palagi, palais, palais de danse, palais glide, palampore

Definition for palaestra (2 of 2)

palestra

or pa·laes·tra

[ puh-les-truh ]

/ pəˈlɛs trə /

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

a public place for training or exercise in wrestling or athletics.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for palaestra

The two rooms at the west end (5 and 6) were added at the expense of the Palaestra, probably at the time of the rebuilding.
Pompeii, Its Life and Art|August Mau
The weakling never appeared in the Palaestra, which even the great Mark Antony did not disdain to visit.
Cleopatra, Complete|Georg Ebers
First there was a court, palaestra, surrounded by a colonnade.
Pompeii, Its Life and Art|August Mau
An Ionic capital found here possibly belonged to the palaestra.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7|Various

Sceparnio, looking off-stage, spies Ampelisca and Palaestra tossed about in a boat.
The Dramatic Values in Plautus|Wilton Wallace Blancke

British Dictionary definitions for palaestra (1 of 2)

palaestra

esp US palestra

/ (pəˈlɛstrə, -ˈliː-) /

noun plural -tras or -trae (-triː)

(in ancient Greece or Rome) a public place devoted to the training of athletes

Word Origin for palaestra

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

British Dictionary definitions for palaestra (2 of 2)

palestra

/ (pəˈlɛstrə, -ˈliː-) /

noun plural -tras or -trae (-triː)

the usual US spelling of palaestra

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 (1 of 2)

palaestra

see palestra.

Word Origin and History for palaestra (1 of 2)

palestra

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.