arcade

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a place containing coin-operated or electronic games for public entertainment

   They spent the afternoon playing racing games at the seaside arcade.

2. 2
   noun

   a covered passage with shops or stalls along one or both sides

   The old shopping arcade shelters pedestrians from the rain.

3. 3
   noun

   a row of arches supported by columns or piers, especially as part of a building

   A stone arcade separates the courtyard from the cloister garden.

Borrowed from French arcade, from Italian arcata ('an arch or series of arches'), ultimately from Latin arcus ('bow, arch'). The architectural row of arches gave its name to covered shopping passages, and later to amusement arcades whose machines were arranged in similar public galleries.

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