arcade

Etymology

It is borrowed from French arcade (“arched opening; a construction of arches”),^[2][3][4][5] from Italian arcata (“arch of a bridge”),^[3][4][5][6] or, according to the Shorter Oxford, the Oxford Dictionary of English and Hoad, from either the Italian word or Old Occitan arcada;^[7][8][9] Merriam-Webster derives it from an assumed dialect form of northern Italy, Italian *arcada.^[10] The Italian word comes from arco (“arch, bow”), from Latin arcus (“bow, arch”),^[5][10][6] with the suffix that gives English -ade;^[3][6] Weekley takes it from Italian arcare (“to bend”), and cites Florio's gloss "an arch of a bridge, a bending".^[11] In French the word is recorded for an arched opening from 1555, for arches resting on columns from 1562 and for an avenue arched over by trees from 1572.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A walkway covered by or lined with a series of arches on columns, or a garden path arched over by branches: 1612, in Edward Grimeston's translation of Pierre Matthieu's life of Henry IV of France, in the OED's revised entry.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline give 1731, in Pope's Moral Essays,^[3][4] and Merriam-Webster 1685.^[10]

Semantic evolution

From a vaulted space or a row of arches,^[4][2] the word passed to any covered avenue, and especially to one lined with shops: a colonnade along a row of shops is recorded from 1770,^[2] and a covered passage of shops, often with a glass roof, became the main sense in the 19th century.^[4][2] Johnson (1755) defined the word as "a continued arch; a walk arched over", quoting Pope.^[12] In architecture an arcade is also a row of ornamental arches set against a wall, from 1760.^[2] The amusement arcade, a hall with coin-operated games, is recorded from 1898, in Scotland,^[2] and with the rise of video games arcade came to mean a place for them and, as an adjective, games of that kind.^[7][10]

Timeline

• 1612 – a walkway lined with arches.^[2]
• 1633 – an arched opening or recess.^[2]
• 1685 – Merriam-Webster's first known use.^[10]
• 1731 – Barnhart's and Etymonline's first example, in Pope.^[3][4]
• 1736 – verb, to build with arcades.^[2]
• 1760 – a row of ornamental arches.^[2]
• 1770 – a covered passage lined with shops.^[2]
• 1898 – an amusement arcade.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A covered passage or walkway with shops on one or both sides, or (chiefly British) a building containing many shops: They spent the afternoon browsing in the arcade.
2. (architecture) A series of arches supported by columns or piers, either free-standing or set against a wall.
3. An amusement arcade: a hall with coin-operated games and video games.
4. An arched or covered walk or avenue, such as one formed by trees.

Verb

1. (usually passive) To build or decorate with an arcade.

Word family

• arcaded
• arcading
• arcade game
• penny arcade

Related words

• arc
• arch
• arrow
• colonnade

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.