# stadia

Pronunciation: say "STAY-dee-uh" /ˈsteɪ.di.ə/

## Noun

1. Plural of stadium. Less common than stadiums, especially in the US. — plural of stadium
   - Simple: Plural of stadium. This is a formal form: most people say stadiums.
   - _Modern stadia often include retractable roofs and tiered luxury seating._
   - _The two largest stadia in the region each seat over eighty thousand fans._
2. A graduated rod or leveling staff that surveyors sight through a telescope to measure height differences or horizontal distances using the reticle's stadia hairs.
   - Simple: A marked measuring rod that surveyors look at through a telescope to find distances and heights.
   - _The team positioned the stadia on the ridge and recorded the readings._
   - _Older surveying kits often included a stadia and a tripod-mounted scope._
3. Hash marks or reticle etchings on a riflescope lens, used for stadiametric rangefinding by comparing them against a target of known height to estimate range.
   - Simple: Marks etched on a rifle scope's lens that help a shooter judge how far away a target is.
   - _The sniper aligned the stadia with the soldier's silhouette to read off the range._
   - _Modern scopes print the stadia directly onto the first focal plane._
4. Plural of stadion. — plural of stadion
   - Simple: Plural of stadion. Use this form when talking about more than one stadion.
   - _The historian converted the distances from stadia into modern kilometers._
   - _Greek runners competed in footraces spanning a few stadia._
5. A graduated brass triangle formerly used to gauge a target's distance by comparing its graduations against the known height of soldiers or horses.
   - Simple: An old brass triangle with marks, used to judge a target's distance from the height of soldiers or horses.
   - _Artillery crews relied on the stadia before optical rangefinders became common._
   - _He aligned the stadia against a mounted scout to read the distance._

## Origin

**Meanings 2–3, 5** — This comes from the Italian word "stadia".
**Meaning 4** — This comes from Ancient Greek στᾰ́δῐᾰ (stadia), the plural of στᾰ́δῐον (stadion).
**Meaning 1** — This comes from Latin "stadia", the plural of "stadium".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stadia (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).