noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A public area in ancient Greece and Rome dedicated to the teaching and practice of wrestling and other sports; a wrestling school, a gymnasium. historical

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

2. 2
   a public place in ancient Greece or Rome devoted to the training of wrestlers and other athletes wordnet
3. 3
   An arena for literal or figurative combat; a battlefield.

Synonyms

All synonyms

acrobaticsagonisticsagoraamphitheaterarenaassociation football

Example

More examples

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

Etymology

From Middle French palestre, from Old French, from Latin palaestra, from Ancient Greek παλαίστρα (palaístra, “wrestling school”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.