noun · femininefirst declension
palaestra1
palaestra f (genitive palaestrae)
Classical[paˈɫae̯s.tra]Ecclesiastical[paˈlɛs.tra]
Meaning
- femininewrestling school, palaestra; place of exercise; gymnasium
- femininewrestling
- femininefigurativelyrhetorical exercises; school of rhetoric, school
- femininefigurativelyart, skill; dexterity
- femininefigurativelybrothel
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
locus ubi iuvenēs luctanturpalaestra -ae (f) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 13, 18
locus luctandīpalaestra -ae (f) — in Aeneis, ch. 16
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | palaestra | palaestrae |
| genitive | palaestrae | palaestrārum |
| dative | palaestrae | palaestrīs |
| accusative | palaestram | palaestrās |
| ablative | palaestrā | palaestrīs |
| vocative | palaestra | palaestrae |
pălaestra, ae, f., = παλαίστρα,
I. a wrestling-school, wrestling-place, place of exercise, palœstra, where youths, with their bodies naked and anointed with oil, practised gymnastic exercises. Such palæstrae were also attached to private houses:
in palaestram venire, Plaut. Bacch. 3, 3, 20; cf. id. ib. 3, 3, 27: in palaestrā atque in foro, id. Am. 4, 1, 3: statuas in palaestrā ponere, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 14, § 36: pars in gramineis exercent membra palaestris, Verg. A. 6, 642. —Of the palæstrae in private houses, Varr. R. R. 3, 13: (Fibrenus) tantum complectitur quod satis sit modicae palaestrae loci, Cic. Leg. 2, 3, 6; id. Q. Fr. 3, 1, 2.—II. Transf.
A. A wrestling in the palæstra, the exercise of wrestling:
non utuntur in ipsā lusione artificio proprio palaestrae, sed indicat ipse motus, didicerintne palaestram an nesciant, Cic. de Or. 1, 16, 73: exercent patrias oleo labente palaestras Nudati socii, Verg. A. 3, 281: corpora agresti nudant palaestrae, id. G. 2, 531: uncta palaestra, Ov. H. 19, 11: nitidā palaestrā ludere, id. ib. 16, 149; cf. Luc. 4, 615.—Mercury was regarded as the founder of wrestling combats, Hor. C. 1, 10, 4; Luc. 9, 661.—C. Exercises in the school of rhetoric, rhetorical exercises, a school of rhetoric, a school:
nitidum genus verborum sed palaestrae magis et olei, quam hujus civilis turbae ac fori, Cic. de Or. 1, 18, 81: non tam armis institutus, quam palaestrā, id. Brut. 9, 37: sic adjuvet, ut palaestra histrionem, id. Or. 4, 14; 56, 186; cf. id. ib. 68, 228: Antipater habuit (in scribendā historiā) vires agrestes ille quidem atque horridas sine nitore ac palaestrā, id. Leg. 1, 2, 6.—* D. An art or skill:
utemur eā palaestrā, quam a te didicimus, Cic. Att. 5, 13, 1.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
palaestra ae, f
, παλαίστρα, a wrestling school, wrestling-place, place of exercise, gymnasium, palaestra: statuas in palaestrā ponere: gramineae palaestrae, V.—A place of discipline in rhetoric, school of rhetoric, school: nitidum genus verborum sed palaestrae magis et olei, etc.—A wrestling, the exercise of wrestling: fac periclum in palaestrā, T.: indicat motus, didicerintne palaestram an nesciant: exercent patrias palaestras, V.: nitida, O. —Practice, art, skill: utemur eā palaestrā, quam a te didicimus.—A brothel, T.
Origins
Borrowed from Ancient Greek παλαίστρα (palaístra, “wrestling school”).
Descendants
- Catalanpalestra
- Englishpalaestra
- Frenchpalestre
- Italianpalestra
- Portuguesepalestra
- Romanianpalestră
- Spanishpalestra
- Friulianpalestre
- Piedmontesepalestra
In English words that came into English from palaestra
- palaestrapalaestra