ENGLISH
REFERENCE

stadium

n. countable
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //ˈsteɪdiəm// UK //stˈeɪdiəm// sta·di·um Archaic General-service

n. a large building with no roof and many rows of seats around a central area. It is used for watching sports or big concerts.

n. a large, typically open-air structure with tiered seating surrounding a field or stage. Used primarily for athletic competitions, large-scale performances, or public assemblies.


SIMPLE

The fans are walking toward the stadium.

CONTEXTUAL

The city built a new stadium to host the international football tournament next summer.

COMPLEX

Modern stadium design must balance the need for high-capacity seating with safety regulations and the acoustic requirements of large-scale musical performances.

Synonyms
Origin

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 Ancient Greek στάδιον (stádion, “a measure of length, a running track”), especially the track at Olympia, which was one stadium in length. The Greek word may literally mean "fixed standard of length" (from στάδιος (stádios, “firm, fixed”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-, whence also stand and Latin stare). Doublet of stade, stadion, and estadio.

Usage

The plural form can be either 'stadiums' or the more traditional 'stadia', though the former is more common in modern usage.

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