stadium

American  

[stey-dee-uhm] / ˈsteɪ di əm /

noun

stadiums, plural stadia plural

1. a sports arena, usually oval or horseshoe-shaped, with tiers of seats for spectators.

2. an ancient Greek course for foot races, typically semicircular, with tiers of seats for spectators.

3. an ancient Greek and Roman unit of length, the Athenian unit being equal to about 607 feet (185 meters).

4. a stage in a process or in the life of an organism.

5. Entomology. stage.

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stadium British  

/ ˈsteɪdɪəm /

noun

1. a sports arena with tiered seats for spectators

2. (in ancient Greece) a course for races, usually located between two hills providing natural slopes for tiers of seats

3. an ancient Greek measure of length equivalent to about 607 feet or 184 metres

4. (in many arthropods) the interval between two consecutive moultings

5. obsolete a particular period or stage in the development of a disease

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Etymology

Origin of stadium

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek stádion unit of distance, racecourse

Explanation

A stadium is a large outdoor venue for sports or concerts. If you were a Roman emperor, you might've watched a chariot race at a stadium, but these days you're more likely to go to a stadium to see a football game or your favorite band. The word stadium is the Latin form of the Greek stadion, which was a length of about 600 human feet. Running tracks at the earliest Greek Olympics were approximately one stadion in length, and Roman tracks of a similar size were surrounded by tiered seating — which led to the English meaning of stadium, a track or field in the middle of tiered seats.

Example Sentences

Few could have imagined Gordon would be returning to this very stadium to be unveiled as a Barcelona player just a couple of months later, even if he always looked likely to depart.

From BBC • May 28, 2026

Dodgers part-owner Alan Smolinisky joined the group as they walked around the third-oldest stadium in the MLB, and Dudamel and Harding later watched the game from the Dodgers owner’s suite.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

City managers, eager to ease the headaches for fans flocking to the stadium in Inglewood, have said they will deploy 300 buses running to the games from a dozen different locations, including the airport.

From Barron's • May 27, 2026

Normally the well-used stadium is a buzz of activity.

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026

The gates to the stadium were being fortified with huge stone slabs.

From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins

Related Words

• amphitheater
• field
• garden
• gymnasium