Stadion

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A measurement from ancient Greece approximately 600 feet long ; a foot race in ancient Greece roughly the same distance as the unit of length ; an arena or venue in ancient Greece designed for athletic contests
2. An old Greek unit used to measure distance, about 600 feet ; a sprint race in ancient Greek athletics of this length ; a stadium in ancient Greece where sports events were held
3. A length unit from ancient Greek times equal to about 600 feet ; a short racing event that was part of ancient Greek games ; a structure built in Greece to host competitions including running races

Etymology: The Greek "stádion" was originally a unit of distance, and its name came from a fixed length: the "stadion" was the distance of a single running course, about 600 feet, roughly the span of the race that gave its name to the venue. The length itself is said to have been standardized at Olympia, so the measure, the race and the arena all came to share one word. English took the term from Greek, and it survives as a doublet of "stade," "stadium" and the Spanish "estadio." Each of these reached English or other languages by a different route from the same Greek source, so they look and sound related while carrying slightly different histories. The Greek word kept its original sense of a measured course, and it is that sense of a fixed distance that gives the English word its meaning in the Greek context.

Synonyms: stadium