stadium

noun

sta·​di·​um ˈstā-dē-əm 

plural stadiums or stadia ˈstā-dē-ə 

1

: a large usually roofless building with tiers of seats for spectators at sports events

2

a

: a tiered structure with seats for spectators surrounding an ancient Greek running track

b

: a course for footraces in ancient Greece

3

a

: any of various ancient Greek units of length ranging in value from 607 to 738 feet (about 185 to 225 meters)

b

: an ancient Roman unit of length equal to 607 feet (185 meters)

4

[New Latin, from Latin] : a stage in a life history

especially : one between successive molts of an insect

Synonyms

• bowl
• circus
• coliseum
• colosseum

Examples of stadium in a Sentence

the football game will be held at the new stadium, which seats 100,000 people

Recent Examples on the Web

Lawmakers define professional sport stadiums as venues with more than 10,000 seats that host games in the National Football League, Major League Baseball or Major League Soccer. —Allison Kiehl, The Enquirer, 23 July 2024

Plans were drawn up for potential Olympic venues, including a new main stadium at 8 Mile and Woodward. —Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 23 July 2024

The Rolling Stones spent the last three months hitting football stadiums in major cities all across North America on their Hackney Diamonds tour. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 22 July 2024

Somehow, this iteration, with its winking nod to corporate underpinnings, was the one that went big, the facsimile that pulled in new listeners and sold out stadiums. —Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, from Greek stadion

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3a

Kids Definition

stadium

noun

sta·​di·​um ˈstād-ē-əm 

plural stadia

-ē-ə

or stadiums

1

: a course for footraces in ancient Greece with rows of seats for spectators

2

plural usually stadiums : a large usually roofless building with rows of seats for spectators at modern sports events

Etymology

Middle English stadium "a course for races in ancient Greece, a large structure for sports events," from Latin stadium (same meaning), from Greek stadion "a course for footraces, a unit of measurement"

Word Origin

A stadion in ancient Greece was a unit of measurement equal to about 180 meters. One of the most important events in the ancient Olympic Games was a footrace exactly one stadion long. The course on which the race was run, including the raised seats from which spectators watched, was also known as a stadion. This word was later borrowed into Latin as stadium. In time, it also came to be used to refer to larger structures in which different kinds of athletic contests were held. That is how the English word stadium is usually used.