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sta·di·um

(stādē-əm)

n. pl. sta·di·ums or sta·di·a (-dē-ə)

1. A large, usually open structure for sports events with tiered seating for spectators.

2. A course on which foot races were held in ancient Greece, usually semicircular and having tiers of seats for spectators.

3. An ancient Greek measure of distance, based on the length of such a course and equal to about 185 meters (607 feet).

4. Medicine A stage or period in the course of a disease.

5. Biology A stage in the development or life history of an organism.

[Middle English, unit of length, from Latin, from Greek stadion, perhaps alteration (influenced by stadios, firm) of spadion, racetrack, from spān, to pull.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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