palaestra

[puh-les-truh]

noun

plural

palaestras, palaestrae 

1. Greek Antiquity.,  palestra.

palaestra

/ -ˈliː-, pəˈlɛstrə /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of palaestra¹

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

Example Sentences

From under the unpaved parking lot the fabled Lyceum emerged, replete with a central courtyard and wrestling area, or palaestra.

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“The amphitheater was in the right place…in relationship to the palaestra,” a large open area for sporting activities, Yeomans says, calling it “a detail only someone like me would notice.”

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Beyond this, on the way to the east coast, are the remains of the new and the old palaestra, also partially excavated.

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The importance attached to this exercise is shown by the very word palaestra, and Plutarch calls it the most artistic and cunning of athletic games.

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For children and youths under the ephebic age there was no practical regulation of schools or palaestra by the state.

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