Odeon is the name for several ancient
Greek and
Roman buildings built for music: singing exercises, musical shows, poetry competitions, and the like. The word comes from the
Ancient Greek ᾨδεῖον,
Ōideion, literally "singing place", or "building for musical competitions"; from the verb ἀείδω,
aeidō, "I sing", which is also the root of ᾠδή,
ōidē, "
ode", and of ἀοιδός,
aoidos, "singer".