Spanish Word of the Day
Thursday, August 16, 2012
arena
noun: sand
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La arena is a word with pleasant associations, relating as it does to beaches and the sea. What could be better than lying on a Caribbean beach?
mar azul, arrecifes de coral, playas de
arena blanca, bosques de cocoteros blue sea, coral reefs, beaches of white sand, groves of coconut trees -
Spanish arena is in origin the same word as English arena. Both come from the Latin (h)arēna, referring to the sand-strewn part of an amphitheatre, where for example gladiators fought. Spanish also has the meaning of sporting arena. From that comes the figurative meaning, as in:
mar azul, arrecifes de coral, playas de
arena blanca, bosques de cocoteros blue sea, coral reefs, beaches of white sand, groves of coconut treesla arena política the political arena
