Etymologically
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plaza

Etymology and origin of the English word plaza

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1673
Borrowed from
Spanish plaza
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (πλατεῖα)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈplɑː.zə/, US /ˈplɑː.zə/, /ˈplæz.ə/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish plaza (“square, place”),[2][3][4][5] from Vulgar Latin *plattea,[4][3] from Latin platea (“courtyard, broad street”),[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa).[6] It is a doublet of place.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A public square or marketplace, in a Spanish-speaking country: 1673 in Merriam-Webster, 1683 in the OED;[4][7] 1830 in Etymonline and 1836 in Barnhart, in American English.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It was at first used of Spanish and Spanish-American towns.[3][7] In North America it came to mean a modern complex of shops and buildings with parking,[6][8] and a widened area of a highway at tollbooths or for services.[8]

Timeline

  • 1673 – plaza.[4]
  • 1683 – a Spanish marketplace.[7]
  • 1836 – plaza (American English).[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A public square or open space in a town or city, especially in Spain or a Spanish-speaking country.
  2. (chiefly US, Canada) A shopping centre, or a modern complex of shops, offices and parking.
  3. (US) A widened part of a highway at tollbooths, or a service area beside it.

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Plaza.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/plaza. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·