plaza

[ plah-zuh, plaz-uh ]

noun

1. a public square or open space in a city or town.
2. shopping plaza.
3. an area along an expressway where public facilities, as service stations and restrooms, are available.

plaza

/ ˈplaθa; ˈplɑːzə /

noun

1. an open space or square, esp in Spain or a Spanish-speaking country
2. 1. a modern complex of shops, buildings, and parking areas
   2. ( capital when part of a name )

      Rockefeller Plaza

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaza¹

First recorded in 1675–85; from Spanish, from Latin platea “street,” from Greek plateîa “broad street”; place

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaza¹

C17: from Spanish, from Latin platēa courtyard, from Greek plateia; see place

Example Sentences

The normally bustling plazas around the State House were empty.

From Washington Post

You would be reasonably close, to be able to protest and express your view, but nobody belongs on the Capitol plaza.

From Washington Post

“They’re not only fighting for major plazas and smuggling routes, but they’re also fighting for corners,” Calderón said.

From Voice of San Diego

Like a public plaza playground-y, there are kids and people climbing on stuff — but shops, and llama signs.

From Freakonomics

One Saturday, a man from Providence, Rhode Island, stopped her in the plaza and asked for help registering some seniors back in his state.

From Vox

In her struggle to find her daughter, Esther becomes one of the founders of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo.

From The Daily Beast

The Plaza Hotel cooked a fancy-pants latke with red wine braised oxtail, horseradish sunchoke cream, and crispy kale.

From The Daily Beast

A crate of the stuff arrived at the studio, compliments of the Plaza Athénée.

From The Daily Beast

When they do dine, the Hitchcocks sometimes use Limoges china marked “Plaza Athénée.”

From The Daily Beast

In August, Trump filed a lawsuit to have his name removed from the casino and from the nearby, since-closed Trump Plaza.

From The Daily Beast

This rampart of dwellings was in the shape of a rectangle, and enclosed a large square or plaza containing a noble reservoir.

From Project Gutenberg

Twenty men and twenty women advanced to the centre of the plaza in double file and faced each other.

From Project Gutenberg

The Plaza was full of people, women talking under the stiff palms, and men sitting on wicker chairs on the hotel piazza opposite.

From Project Gutenberg

Meantime the Plaza is being filled with chairs—rocking-chairs—which seem to spring up out of nothing.

From Project Gutenberg

The Plaza is still the parlor in Guadalajara and it's enchanting!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• park
• square