# You say Coliseum, I say Collosseum

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-coliseum-i-say-collosseum/42201>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 21, 2000, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-coliseum-i-say-collosseum/42201 "2000-11-21T23:20:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-coliseum-i-say-collosseum/42201/1 "2000-11-21T23:20:00Z")

</div>

I know that the name **Collosseum** , in Rome, originated as a nickname for the Flavian Amphitheatre, because of a **Collossal** statue that stood nearby. But in L.A.  
we have the **Coliseum**. Why the different spellings, and do they have different etymologies?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-coliseum-i-say-collosseum/42201/2 "2000-11-22T00:22:42Z")

</div>

The OED says that they are variant spellings of the same word. Both have been used in the past to refer to the arena built in the time of Vespasian.