Quick Definition
στοά, ᾶς, ἡ n.f. a colonnade, portico
Strong's Definition
probably from 2476; a colonnade or interior piazza
KJV Usage: porch
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ᾶς | ἵστημι
7.40 · Constructions · Parts and Areas of Buildings
porch, portico a covered colonnade, open normally on one side, where people could stand, sit, or walk, protected from the weather and the heat of the sun Also see comments at 7.58.
In many parts of the world the closest equivalent to a στοά would be a veranda, an extensive type of porch. Such a porch may be described as ‘a long outside room’ or ‘a room made with pillars and open.’
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
στοά, -Gs, ἡ, ἃ portico, a covered colonnade where people can stand or walk protected from the weather and the heat of the sun: Jn. v. 2; στοὰ Σολομῶνος, a “ porch” or portico built by Solomon in the eastern part of the temple (which in the temple’s destruction by the Babylonians was left uninjured, and remained down to the times of king Agrippa, to whom the care of the temple was intrusted by the emperor Claudius, and who on account of its antiquity did not dare to demolish and build it anew; so Josephus relates, antt. 20, 9, 7; [but on ‘Solomon’s Porch’ cf. B.D. s. v. Temple (Solomon’s Temple, fin.)]): Jn. x. 23; Acts iii. 11; v. 12.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
στοά stoa 4x
a colonnade, cloister, covered walk supported by columns, Jn. 5:2; 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
στοά, -ᾶς, ἡ
[in LXX: Ez 40:18 (רִצְפָּה), etc. ;]
a portico: Jo 5:2; used of the covered colonnade in the Temple (EV, porch), Jo 10:23, Ac 3:11 5:12 †
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
στοά. For this word which is used of the covered ‘ portico’’ or ““colonnade ’’ (AV, RV “‘ porch’) of the Temple in Jn 107%, Ac 344, we may cite the following exx.—CP Herm I. 119 recto. 18 πρὸς τῇ καμάρᾳ ὑπὸ στοὰν ᾿Αντινοϊτικῆς πλατίας, BGU IV, 11678 (B.c, 12) ἐν τῇ τετραγώ(νῳ) στοᾷ οἰκητηρίο(υ), 7. 1127} (B.C. 8) εἰς τὸ τῆς στοᾶς λογιστήριον, P Oxy XII. 14061 (edict of Caracalla—a.p. 213-17) προετέθη ἐν Β[αβυλῶνι Ὁ] ὑπὸ στ[ο]ᾷ δημοσίᾳ, ‘ published at B[abylon?] in the public colonnade ” (Edd.), 76. XVI.38 (A.D. 505) ὑπίὸ τ]ὴν νοτιν[ὴ]ν δημοσίαν στοάν, Michel τοο 7 (¢, B.C, 200) εἴ κα μή τις στοὰν οἰκοδομῆσαι προαιρεῖται, Sy// 588749 (c, B.C. 180) ἐνωπίωι τῶν στοῶν, and C. and δ. i. p. 155, No. 61 (Α.Ὁ. 136-7) τὴν ἐξέδραν καὶ τὴν στουὰν παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ἀποκαθέστησεν.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
στοά (stoa) — Portico. στοά, ᾶς, ἡ, [Refs 6th c.BC+]; also στοιά (in anapaestic verse) [Refs 5th c.BC+], and in some dialect Inscrr., [Refs 4th c.BC+]; στωϊά [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:— roofed colonnade, cloister, [NT+5th c.BC+]
II. at Athens,
II.1. storehouse, magazine, especially for corn, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.2. ἡ στοιὰ ἡ βασίλειος the court where the βασιλεύς sat, [Refs]; ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σ. βασιλική at Thera, [Refs]
II.3. ἡ στοὰ ἡ ποικίλη, see at {ποικίλος} 11.3: also ἡ σ. alone, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς σ., of the Stoics (since Zeno taught there), [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; οἱ ἐκ τῆς σ. [Refs]. alone, the Stoic school, [Refs 1st c.BC+]
II.4. of other porticoes, ἡ σ. ἡ τῶν Ἑρμῶν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἡ μακρὰ σ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἡ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Ἐλευθερίου σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III. long roof or shed used in sieges, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—gallery, communication trench, whether above ground or excavated, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]