coliseum

English

Alternative forms

• colossæum (archaic)
• colosseum

Etymology

From Medieval Latin coliseum, from Latin Colosseum, from neuter of colosseus (“gigantic”), from Ancient Greek κολοσσιαῖος (kolossiaîos), from κολοσσός (kolossós, “giant statue”). See also: w:Colosseum § Name on Wikipedia.

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌkɑləˈsi.əm/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /kɒl.əˈsiː.əm/

Noun

coliseum (plural coliseums or (rare) colisea)

1. A large theatre, cinema, or stadium.

   the London Coliseum

   • 1859 November, “Christianity a Strong System”, in The New Englander, volume XVII, number LXVIII, New Haven, Conn.: William L. Kingsley, […], page 856:

     Has he not found this wide region profusely sprinkled with public works—highways, bridges, acqueducts,^[sic] arches, palaces, Colisea,—massive, Roman-built?

   • 1868, P. F. Roe, “[Puzzles.] No. 4. Why is a Feather like Green Cheese?”, in Poems: Characteristic, Itinerary, and Miscellaneous, London: John Camden Hotten, […], part III (Minor Poems, Miscellaneous, Fugitive, and Occasional), page 184:

     The nibbèd feather plumes its flights toward thee, / Thou mistress of mad poets and of night, / Cynthia, whom science weakly holds to be / The milky way’s coagulated light, / Or scooped from verdant Colisea of the Mite.

   • 2000, William R[omeyn] Everdell, “Conclusion”, in The End of Kings: A History of Republics and Republicans, 2nd edition, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 304:

     Old-fashioned republicans like Cato in Rome deplore intricate hairdos, fringes on the toga, Lucullan banquets, specialized artisanry, the scale of entertainment in the Colisea and Circuses, toplofty military triumphs, sexual excess, serial marriage, and overindulgence of every kind.

   • 2014, Harry Bucknall, Like a Tramp, Like A Pilgrim: On Foot, Across Europe to Rome, Continuum, →ISBN:

     These complex structures, whose towers seemed to touch the heavens, with ornate windows, vaulted ceilings and flying buttresses, were the Wembley Stadia, the Melbourne Cricket Grounds and the LA Memorial Colisea of their day – soaring temples to the worship of God designed to accommodate thousands, as awesome to behold then as they are today.

2. A large, often circular building, for indoor sporting events, exhibitions, concerts, etc.; arena.
   • 1956, Soviet Survey, pages 54–55:

     The state deplores the consumer approach in sport—and builds the colisea which encourage it.

Derived terms

• coliseum ivy