Latin

Proper noun

Palaestra f ‎(genitive Palaestrae); first declension

1. A female given name, character in the play Rudens of Plautus.

English

Alternative forms

• palæstra
• palestra (U.S.)

Noun

palaestra ‎(plural palaestras or palaestrae)

1. (historical) A public area in ancient Greece and Rome dedicated to the teaching and practice of wrestling and other sports; a wrestling school, a gymnasium. [from 15th c.]
   • 1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae:

     Athenian culture flourished in externalities, the open air of the agora and the nudity of the palestra.

2. An arena for literal or figurative combat; a battlefield. [from 15th c.]

Translations

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek παλαίστρα ‎(palaístra, “wrestling school”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /paˈlaɪs.tra/

Noun

palaestra f ‎(genitive palaestrae); first declension

1. wrestling school, palaestra; place of exercise; gymnasium
2. wrestling
3. (figuratively) rhetorical exercises; school of rhetoric, school
4. (figuratively) art, skill; dexterity
5. (figuratively, in the language of comedy) brothel

Inflection

First declension.

Synonyms

• (wrestling school): oleum

Related terms

Descendants

References

• palaestra in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• palaestra in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• PALAESTRA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “palaestra”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• palaestra in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• palaestra in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin