harēna
From an earlier *hasēna (compare Sabine fasēna), possibly from Etruscan. Compare Etruscan 𐌚𐌀𐌑𐌄𐌍𐌀 (faśena, “sand, ashes, human remains”).
Otherwise, as de Vaan suggests, it might be from a verb suffixed with *-es-no-, but none fits and so the etymology is unknown.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /haˈreː.na/, [häˈreːnä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /aˈre.na/, [äˈrɛːnä]
Noun
harēna f (genitive harēnae); first declension
- sand [ quotations ▼]
- (poetically) slime, mud, līmus [ quotations ▼]
- (metonymically) sand, sands, a sandy place, especially—
- a sandy desert, waste
- the shore of the sea, the beach, coast, strand
- the place of combat (strewn with sand) in the amphitheatre, the arena
- (transferred) a combat in the amphitheatre; the combatants in the arena
- volcanic fire, lava.
- (figuratively) the place of combat, scene or theatre of any contest (war, a single battle, a dispute, etc.)
Declension
First-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | harēna | harēnae |
| Genitive | harēnae | harēnārum |
| Dative | harēnae | harēnīs |
| Accusative | harēnam | harēnās |
| Ablative | harēnā | harēnīs |
| Vocative | harēna | harēnae |