Stadium meaning
- A unit of linear measure, equal to about 607 feet (185 meters).
- A straight track for footraces, typically one stadium in length, with tiers of seats for spectators on each side.
Origin of stadium
- Middle English unit of length from Latin from Greek stadion perhaps alteration (influenced by stadios firm) of spadion racetrack from spān to pull
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Latin stadium (“a measure of length, a race course") (commonly one-eighth of a Roman mile; translated in early English Bibles by furlong), from Ancient Greek στάδιον (stadion, “a measure of length, a running track"), especially the track at Olympia, which was one stadium in length. The Greek word may literally mean "fixed standard of length" (from στάδιος (stadios, “firm, fixed"), from Proto-Indo-European *sta-, whence also stand).
From Wiktionary