A.“στάδιοι” 1.26, 2.149,158, al., “στάδια” 4.101, 5.53, 9.23, al.; so Th. in the same chapter (7.78) has στάδια once and σταδίους twice; “στάδια” E.Ion497 (lyr.), Ar.Av.6, Antiph.100, Pl.Phdr.229c; “στάδιοι” Ar.Ra.1319, Pl.Criti.113c, 117e, PCair.Zen. 388.6 (iii B.C.), etc.; the sg. masc. is not found:
I. as a standard of length, stade,= 100 ὀργυιαί or 6 πλέθρα (Hdt.2.149), i.e. 600 Greek, 606 3/4 English feet, about 1/8 of a Roman mile, Plb.3.39.8, 34.12.4, cf. Plin.HN2.85, Hero *Deff.131; a longer stade, of which there were 7 1/2 in a Roman mile, is implied by D.C.52.21.
2. metaph., ἑκατὸν σταδίοισιν ἄριστος 'best by a hundred miles', Ar. Nu.430; “πλεῖν ἢ σταδίῳ λαλίστερα” Id.Ra.91.
II. race-course, IG22.677.3, etc. (because the most noted, that of Olympia, was exactly a stade long): prop. a single course, opp. δίαυλος, Pi.O.13.37, IG22.2313.23, SIG1067.9 (Rhodes, ii B.C.), etc.; “σταδίου δρόμος” Pi.O. 13.30; γυμνὸν ς., opp. ὁπλίτης δρόμος, Id.P.11.49; “ὠκύτερον σταδίου” Thgn.1306; ἀγωνίζεσθαι ς. run a race, Hdt.5.22; “ἁμιλλᾶσθαι” Pl.Lg. 833a; “νικᾶν” X.HG1.2.1, cf. Pi.N.8.16; “ἀσκεῖν” Pl.Thg.128e; of the building, IG22.351.16, 677.3, PRyl.93.16 (iii A.D.), etc.; ἐν σταδίοις, i.e. in the amphitheatre, CIG4377 (Sagalassos).
3. walk in a garden, IG14.1853 (pl.).