Etymology
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arena (n.)

1620s, "place of combat," from Latin harena "place of combat, enclosed space in the middle of Roman amphitheaters," originally "sand, sandy place" (source also of Spanish arena, Italian rena, French arène "sand"), a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from Etruscan. The central stages of Roman amphitheaters were strewn with sand to soak up the blood. Figuratively, "scene of contest of any kind" by 1814.

Entries linking to arena

-ae 

occasional plural suffix of words ending in -a (see a- (1)), most of which, in English, are from Latin nominative fem. singular nouns (or Greek ones brought up through Latin), which in Latin form their plurals in -ae. But plurals in native -s were established early in English for many of them (such as idea, arena) and many have crossed over since. Purity now would only breed monsters.

arenaceous (adj.)

1640s, "sandy," from Latin arenaceus, harenaceus, from harena "sand, sandy place" (see arena). The figurative sense of "dry" is attested from 1870.

updated on September 24, 2022

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Dictionary entries near arena

are

area

areal

area-way

aren't

arena

arenaceous

areola

areolas

Areopagite

Areopagus

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