stadium

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsta.di.ũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈstaː.di.um]^[1]

Forms

stadium n (genitive stadiī or stadī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek στάδιον (stádion, “stade, racecourse”).^[2][3][1] Wiktionary connects the Greek with Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius uses it of a running track, “in the stadium, in the gymnasium”.^[2] Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a running track, and Varro compares the body to a runner and its place to the stadium.^[2] Cicero uses stadium currere of running a race, also figuratively.^[5] It was a measure of length of 625 feet, an eighth of a Roman mile, much used by Cicero and Pliny.^[2][5] In astronomy Manilius uses it of half a degree of the equator.^[2]

In medieval Latin it was a racetrack, a place of contest and a battlefield.^[6] Köbler adds the sense of a pilgrimage.^[4] English stadium is recorded in the mid-14th century as a foot race, and as a measure of distance in the early 15th century.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a running track.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it as a measure of distance.^[2][4]
• mid-14th century – English stadium is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A racecourse, running track.^[2][8]
2. A stade, measure of 625 feet.^[2][5]
3. (astronomy) Half a degree of the equator.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A place of contest; a battlefield.^[6]

Word family

• stadiālis
• stadiātus

Related words

• stadiodromos
• English stadium

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press