Plaza - Definition and Overview

Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open public space, such as a town square. More recently it has been used to describe a shopping complex, similar to a shopping mall, borrowing its connotations of a center of cultural life. The name is currently even applied to a single building, often with a hotel or office tower above, while mall more often refers to multiple buildings or a street.

Examples: Pantip Plaza, Clinton Plaza, Central Plaza, Hong Kong, Schiphol Plaza.

Most colonial cities in Spanish America were planned around a square plaza de armas, where troops could be mustered, as the name implies, surrounded by the governor's palace and the main church.

A plaza de toros is a bullfighting arena.

The Italian cognate is Piazza, the French cognate Place.

Fictional example: Nakatomi Plaza