'coliseum-like' originates from Modern English, specifically the word 'coliseum' combined with the suffix '-like', where '-like' meant 'similar to' or 'having the quality of'.

'coliseum' itself comes from Latin 'Colosseum', adopted into English via Italian 'Colosseo'; 'Colosseum' in Latin was associated with the nearby 'colossus' (from Greek 'kolossós'), referring to a very large statue, and the amphitheatre took its name from that association. The adjective-forming element '-like' is a native Old English/Old Norse-derived suffix used productively in Modern English.

Initially related specifically to the physical Colosseum (the Roman amphitheatre), the formation 'coliseum-like' evolved to be used more generally and metaphorically to describe anything that resembles or evokes the scale or atmosphere of a coliseum.