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Stadium - 6 dictionary results

sta⋅di⋅um

[stey-dee-uhm]
–noun, plural -di⋅ums, -di⋅a [-dee-uh] .
1. a sports arena, usually oval or horseshoe-shaped, with tiers of seats for spectators.
2. an ancient Greek course for foot races, typically semicircular, with tiers of seats for spectators.
3. an ancient Greek and Roman unit of length, the Athenian unit being equal to about 607 feet (185 m).
4. a stage in a process or in the life of an organism.
5. Entomology. stage (def. 11b).

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L < Gk stádion unit of distance, racecourse

stage

[steyj] ,noun, verb, staged, stag⋅ing.
–noun
1. a single step or degree in a process; a particular phase, period, position, etc., in a process, development, or series.
2. a raised platform or floor, as for speakers, performers, etc.
3. Theater.
a. the platform on which the actors perform in a theater.
b. this platform with all the parts of the theater and all the apparatus back of the proscenium.
4. the stage, the theater, esp. acting, as a profession: He plans to make the stage his career.
5. Movies. sound stage.
6. the scene of any action.
7. a stagecoach.
8. a place of rest on a journey; a regular stopping place of a stagecoach or the like, for the change of horses, mules, etc.
9. the distance between two places of rest on a journey; each of the portions of a journey.
10. a portion or period of a course of action, of life, etc.: the adolescent stage of human development.
11. Entomology.
a. any one of the major time periods in the development of an insect, as the embryonic, larval, pupal, and imaginal stages.
b. Also called stadium. any one of the periods of larval growth between molts.
12. Economics, Sociology. a major phase of the economic or sociological life of human beings or society: the patriarchal stage.
13. Geology. a division of stratified rocks corresponding to a single geologic age.
14. the small platform of a microscope on which the object to be examined is placed.
15. Radio. an element in a complex mechanism, as a tube and its accessory structures in a multiple amplifier.
16. Rocketry. a section of a rocket containing a rocket engine or cluster of rocket engines, usually separable from other such sections when its propellant is exhausted.
–verb (used with object)
17. to represent, produce, or exhibit on or as if on a stage: The drama class staged a play during Christmas vacation.
18. to furnish with a stage, staging, stage set, etc.
19. to write, direct, or produce (a play) with the action taking place as if in a specified locale or time: He staged the fantasy on Mars in the year 2500.
20. to plan, organize, or carry out (an activity), esp. for dramatic or public effect: Workers staged a one-day strike.
21. to classify the natural progression of (a disease, esp. cancer).
–verb (used without object)
22. to be suitable for presentation or performance on the stage: The script didn't stage well.
23. to travel by stagecoach.
24. by easy stages, working, traveling, etc., slowly, with frequent pauses; unhurriedly, with many stops; gradually.
25. go on the stage, to become an actor, esp. in the theater: She knew from the age of 12 that she would go on the stage.
26. hold the stage,
a. to continue to be produced, as a play or other theatrical production.
b. to be the center of attention.
27. on stage, performing, esp. as an actor.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME (n.) < OF estage (F étage) < VL *staticum standing place, equiv. to stat(us) status + -icum, neut. of -icus -ic


stage⋅a⋅ble, adjective
stage⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, stage⋅a⋅ble⋅ness, noun
stage⋅a⋅bly, adverb


6. spot, setting, locale.
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.]

Stadium

Sta"di*um\, n. A modern structure, with its inclosure, resembling the ancient stadium, used for athletic games, etc.

Stadium

Sta"di*um\, n.; pl. Stadia. [L., a stadium (in sense 1), from Gr. ?.]

1. A Greek measure of length, being the chief one used for itinerary distances, also adopted by the Romans for nautical and astronomical measurements. It was equal to 600 Greek or 625 Roman feet, or 125 Roman paces, or to 606 feet 9 inches English. This was also called the Olympic stadium, as being the exact length of the foot-race course at Olympia. --Dr. W. Smith.

2. Hence, a race course; especially, the Olympic course for foot races.

3. A kind of telemeter for measuring the distance of an object of known dimensions, by observing the angle it subtends; especially (Surveying), a graduated rod used to measure the distance of the place where it stands from an instrument having a telescope, by observing the number of the graduations of the rod that are seen between certain parallel wires (stadia wires) in the field of view of the telescope; -- also called stadia, and stadia rod.
Language Translation for : Stadium
Italian: stadio,
German: das Stadion,
Japanese: 競技場

stadium 
1398, "a foot race, an ancient measure of length," from L. stadium "a measure of length, a race course" (commonly one-eighth of a Roman mile; transl. in early Eng. Bibles by furlong), from Gk. stadion "a measure of length, a running track," especially the track at Olympia, which was one stadium in length. The Gk. word may literally mean "fixed standard of length" (from stadios "firm, fixed," from PIE base *sta- "to stand"), or it may be from spadion, from span "to draw up, pull," with form infl. by stadios. The meaning "running track," recorded in Eng. from 1603, was extended to mean in modern-day context "large, open oval structure with tiers of seats for viewing sporting events" (1834).
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