Sta"di*um (?), n.
A modern structure, with its inclosure, resembling the ancient stadium, used for athletic games, etc.
||Sta"di*um (?), n.;
pl. Stadia (#). [L., a stadium (in
sense 1), from Gr. &?;.]
1. A Greek
measure of length, being the chief one
used for itinerary
distances, also adopted by the Romans for nautical and astronomical
measurements. It was equal to 600 Greek or 625 Roman feet, or 125 Roman paces, or to 606 feet 9
inches English. This was also called the Olympic stadium, as being the exact length of the foot-race course at Olympia. Dr. W. Smith.
2. Hence, a race
course; especially, the Olympic course for foot races.
3. A kind of telemeter for measuring the distance of an object of
known dimensions, by observing the angle it subtends; especially (Surveying), a graduated rod used to measure the distance of the place
where it stands from an instrument having a telescope, by observing the number of
the graduations of the rod that
are seen between certain parallel wires (stadia wires) in the field
of view of the telescope; -- also called stadia, and
stadia rod.
Hear it pronounced