stadium
- a sports arena, usually oval or horseshoe-shaped, with tiers of seats for spectators.
- an ancient Greek course for foot races, typically semicircular, with tiers of seats for spectators.
- an ancient Greek and Roman unit of length, the Athenian unit being equal to about 607 feet (185 meters).
- a stage in a process or in the life of an organism.
- Entomology. stage(def 11b).
Origin of stadium
Examples from the Web for stadium
Contemporary Examples
A winning team may pack the stadium, but you need that packed stadium to get top recruits and sustain victories.
How The University of Wisconsin Badgers Are Bucking the Big Ten Ticket FlopBrian Weidy
October 31, 2014
Getting students to games clearly has ramifications beyond the walls of the stadium.
How The University of Wisconsin Badgers Are Bucking the Big Ten Ticket FlopBrian Weidy
October 31, 2014
Under Francis, the Church wants to bring people back into the stadium, as it were.
Daniel Craig, in his finest Bond dinner jacket, called at the Palace and invited her to parachute into the stadium with him.
Imagining Prince Charles as King Makes All of Britain Wish They Could Leave Like ScotlandClive Irving
September 17, 2014
I turned around and saw the US Navy Blue Angels about to buzz the stadium.
Historical Examples
In October, 1920, the Stadium in this park was formally opened.
McGill and its Story, 1821-1921Cyrus Macmillan
"I shall never boast about the stadium at Cambridge again," she said.
Rafael in ItalyEtta Blaisdell McDonald
He wished to inspect them in the stadium, and they were now marching thither.
A Thorny Path [Per Aspera], CompleteGeorg Ebers
All of this was duly announced to the stadium and the excitement was intense.
At Good Old SiwashGeorge Fitch
By this time people were being removed from the stadium in all directions.
At Good Old SiwashGeorge Fitch
stadium
- a sports arena with tiered seats for spectators
- (in ancient Greece) a course for races, usually located between two hills providing natural slopes for tiers of seats
- an ancient Greek measure of length equivalent to about 607 feet or 184 metres
- (in many arthropods) the interval between two consecutive moultings
- obsolete a particular period or stage in the development of a disease
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for stadium
n.
late 14c., "a foot race, an ancient measure of length," from Latin stadium "a measure of length, a race course" (commonly one-eighth of a Roman mile; translated in early English Bibles by furlong), from Greek stadion "a measure of length, a running track," especially the track at Olympia, which was one stadium in length.
The Greek word might literally mean "fixed standard of length" (from stadios "firm, fixed," from PIE root *sta- "to stand"), or it may be from spadion, from span "to draw up, pull," with form influenced by stadios.
The meaning "running track," recorded in English from c.1600, was extended to mean in modern-day context "large, open oval structure with tiers of seats for viewing sporting events" (1834).