palestra

American  

[puh-les-truh] / pəˈlɛs trə /

Or palaestra

noun

Greek Antiquity.

plural

palestras, palestrae

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

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palestra British  

/ pəˈlɛstrə, -ˈliː- /

noun

1. the usual US spelling of palaestra

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Etymology

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

Example Sentences

But when we leave the child "free as a man" in the palestra of his own intelligence, his type changes entirely.

From Spontaneous Activity in Education by Montessori, Maria

The apartment at the entrance of the baths, or in the palestra, where one stripped; a dressing room.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah

The statue represents an athlete rubbing his arm with a flesh scraper to remove the oil and sand of the palestra, or exercising ground.

From Early European History by Webster, Hutton

Afterward I challenged him to the palestra; and he wrestled and closed with me several times alone; I fancied that I might succeed in this way.

From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume I (of X) - Greece by Halsey, Francis W. (Francis Whiting)

By gymnastics the Greeks meant the physical training in the palestra, an open stretch of ground on the outskirts of the city.

From Early European History by Webster, Hutton