arena

Borrowed from Latin arēna (“sand, arena”), from an earlier *hasēna (compare Sabine fasēna), possibly from Etruscan.

• IPA^(key): /əˈɹiːnə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːnə

arena (plural arenas or arenae or arenæ)

1. An enclosed area, often outdoor, for the presentation of sporting events (sports arena) or other spectacular events; earthen area, often oval, specifically for rodeos (North America) or circular area for bullfights (especially Hispanic America).

   A large crowd filled the seats of the arena.

2. The building housing such an area; specifically, a very large, often round building, often topped with a dome, designated for indoor sporting or other major events, such as concerts.

   The arena is grey with white beams.

3. (historical) The sand-covered centre of an amphitheatre where contests were held in Ancient Rome.

   The gladiators entered the arena.

4. A realm in which events take place; an area of interest, study, behaviour, etc.

   The company was a player in the maritime insurance arena.

   • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4:

     But transects have also been utilised in a large variety of arenas, including surveying the contents of Amerindian earthen mounds, determining levels of anti-rabies vaccinations in village dogs, and examining ecological factors under the canopy of trees growing in agricultural areas.

   • December 13 2021, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time‎^[1], archived from the original on 13 December 2021:

     To Musk, his vast fortune is a mere side effect of his ability not just to see but to do things others cannot, in arenas where the stakes are existential.

• → Canadian French: aréna

• Aaren, Arean, Arnea, anear

From Latin arēna.

• IPA^(key): /aˈɾena/
• Syllabification: a‧re‧na
• Rhymes: -ena

arena f (plural arenas)

1. sand

• “arena”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)
• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002), “arena”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

• areña

From Latin arēna.

• IPA^(key): /aˈɾena/ [aˈɾe.na]
• Rhymes: -ena
• Syllabification: a‧re‧na

arena f (uncountable)

1. sand

   Synonym: sable

• reló d'arena

• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “arena”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “arena”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN

Inherited from Latin arēna.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əˈɾɛ.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əˈɾə.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aˈɾe.na]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

arena f (plural arenes)

1. sand

   Synonym: sorra

2. arena (an enclosed area for the presentation of sporting events)
3. arena (a realm in which important events unfold)

• “arena”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “arena”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “arena” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “arena” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Italian arena, from Latin arēna.

• IPA^(key): /aːˈreː.naː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: are‧na
• Rhymes: -eːnaː

arena m (plural arena's, diminutive arenaatje n)

1. arena (enclosed area for the presentation of sporting or other spectacular events)
2. arena (building housing such an area)

• Previously also found in the neuter gender

• → Indonesian: arena

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “arena”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

• Arena (gebouw) on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

From Latin arēna. Doublet of area.

• IPA^(key): /aˈɾena/ [aˈɾe.nɐ]
• Rhymes: -ena
• Hyphenation: a‧re‧na

arena f (plural arenas)

1. arena (an enclosed area for the presentation of sporting events)

• “arena”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “arena”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

From Dutch arena, from Latin arēna (“sand, arena”), from an earlier *hasēna (compare Sabine fasēna), possibly from Etruscan.

• IPA^(key): [ˈarɛna]
• Hyphenation: arè‧na

arèna (plural arena-arena)

1. arena:
   1. the building housing such an area; specifically, a very large, often round building, often topped with a dome, designated for indoor sporting or other major events, such as concerts

      Synonym: gelanggang

   2. (figurative) a realm in which events take place; an area of interest, study, behaviour, etc.

• “arena”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Inherited from Latin arēna. Doublet of rena.

• IPA^(key): /aˈre.na/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ena
• Hyphenation: a‧ré‧na

arena f (plural arene)

1. sand

   Synonyms: sabbia, rena

2. beach or lido

• arenoso

Borrowed from Latin arēna.

• IPA^(key): /aˈre.na/, (traditional) /aˈrɛ.na/^[2][3]
• Rhymes: -ena, (traditional) -ɛna
• Hyphenation: a‧ré‧na, (traditional) a‧rè‧na

arena f (plural arene)

1. space in a classical amphitheatre; arena
2. bullring and similar sporting spaces
3. cockpit (An enclosure for cockfights)

• arena in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

• harēna

From an earlier *hasēna (compare Sabine fasēna), possibly from Etruscan.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [aˈreː.na]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [aˈrɛː.na]

arēna f (genitive arēnae); first declension

1. alternative form of harēna

First-declension noun.

Inherited from Latin arēna, possibly of Etruscan origin.

• IPA^(key): /aˈɾena/ [ɐˈɾe.nɐ]
• Rhymes: -ena
• Syllabification: a‧re‧na

arena f (plural arenas)

1. sand

From Latin arēna.

arena f

1. sand

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈarena/

arena

1. arena

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• Eino Koponen, Klaas Ruppel, Kirsti Aapala, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎^[2], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Borrowed from Latin arena, harena.

arena m (definite singular arenaen, indefinite plural arenaer, definite plural arenaene)

1. an arena
2. a venue

• “arena” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Borrowed from Latin arena, harena.

• IPA^(key): /ɑˈreːnɑ/

arena m (definite singular arenaen, indefinite plural arenaer or arenaar, definite plural arenaene or arenaane)

1. an arena
2. a venue

• “arena” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Learned borrowing from Latin arēna, from an earlier *hasēna, possibly from Etruscan. Doublet of arenal.

• IPA^(key): /aˈrɛ.na/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛna
• Syllabification: a‧re‧na

arena f

1. arena (enclosed area, often outdoor)
2. arena (sports stadium)

   Synonym: stadion

3. (historical) arena (sand-covered centre of an amphitheatre)
4. arena (realm in which important events unfold)

• arena in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• arena in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Learned borrowing from Latin arēna (“sand”), possibly from Etruscan *𐌇𐌀𐌔𐌄𐌍𐌀 (*hasena). Doublet of areia.

• Hyphenation: a‧re‧na

arena f (plural arenas)

1. arena

• “arena”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “arena”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

From Latin arena.

arena f

1. sand

arena

1. aren't

• Eagle, Andy, editor (2026), “arena”, in The Online Scots Dictionary‎^[3]

• IPA^(key): /arěːna/
• Hyphenation: a‧re‧na

aréna f (Cyrillic spelling аре́на)

1. arena

• IPA^(key): /aˈɾena/ [aˈɾe.na]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ena
• Syllabification: a‧re‧na

Inherited from Latin arēna, possibly of Etruscan origin. Compare English arena.

arena f (plural arenas)

1. (geology) sand, gravel

   arena muerta ― pure sand (useless for cultivation)

   arenas movedizas ― quicksand

   chorro de arena ― sandblast

2. (building, sports) bullfight arena; boxing ring

arena

1. inflection of arenar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “arena”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

arena c

1. arena

• arean