athlete

See also: athlète

English

An athlete

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀθλητής ‎(athlētḗs), from ἀθλέω ‎(athléō, “compete for a prize”), from ἆθλον ‎(âthlon, “prize”) or ἆθλος ‎(âthlos, “competition”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæθ.liːt/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈæθ.lit/
• (proscribed) IPA^(key): /ˈæθ.ə.liːt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

athlete ‎(plural athletes)

1. A participant in a group of sporting activities which includes track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking.
   • 2013 March 1, David S. Senchina, “Athletics and Herbal Supplements”, in American Scientist^[1], volume 101, number 2, page 134:

     Athletes' use of herbal supplements has skyrocketed in the past two decades. At the top of the list of popular herbs are echinacea and ginseng, whereas garlic, St. John's wort, soybean, ephedra and others are also surging in popularity or have been historically prevalent.

   She's the first athlete in her sport to obtain a corporate sponsor.

2. (US, Canada) A person who actively participates in physical sports, especially with great skill; a sportsperson.
3. An exceptionally physically fit person.

Synonyms

• sportsperson

Derived terms

Derived terms

athlete's foot athletics athleticism biathlete decathlete

heptathlete parathlete para-athlete triathlete

Related terms

• -athlon

Translations

participant in one of several sporting activities

• Albanian: atlet (sq) m, atlete (sq) f
• Bulgarian: лекоатлет ‎(lekoatlet)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 運動選手, 运动选手 ‎(yùndòng xuánshǒu)

• Czech: atlet (cs) m, atletka (cs) f
• Danish: atlet (da) c
• Finnish: yleisurheilija (fi)
• French: athlète (fr) m, f
• German: Athlet/Athletin m/f
• Greek: αθλητής (el) m ‎(athlitís) (athlitís), αθλήτρια (el) f ‎(athlítria) (athlítria)

• Hungarian: atléta (hu)
• Icelandic: íþrottmaður m
• Ido: atleto (io)
• Indonesian: atlet (id)
• Italian: atleta (it) m, f
• Japanese: 陸上選手 ‎(りくじょうせんしゅ, rikujō senshu)
• Norwegian: idrettsmann m
• Polish: lekkoatleta (pl) m, lekkoatletka (pl) f
• Portuguese: atleta (pt) m, f
• Russian: легкоатле́т (ru) m ‎(lexkoatlét)
• Swahili: mwanariadha (sw)
• Swedish: friidrottare (sv)

person who actively participates in physical sports

• Albanian: atlet (sq) m, atlete (sq) f
• Arabic: رِيَاضِيّ m ‎(riyāḍiyy), رِيَاضِيَّة (ar) f ‎(riyāḍiyya)
• Armenian: սպորտսմեն (hy) ‎(sportsmen), մարզիկ (hy) ‎(marzik)
• Bulgarian: атлет ‎(atlet), спортист (bg) ‎(sportist)
• Catalan: atleta (ca) m, f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 運動員 (zh), 运动员 (zh) ‎(yùndònɡyuán)

• Czech: sportovec (cs) m
• Danish: sportsudøver (da) c
• Dutch: atleet (nl)
• Esperanto: atleto
• Finnish: atleetti (fi)
• French: athlète (fr) m, f, sportif (fr) m, sportive (fr) f
• Galician: atleta (gl) m, f
• German: Sportler (de) m, Sportlerin (de) f, Athlet (de) m, Athletin (de) f
• Greek: αθλητής (el) m ‎(athlitís) (athlitís), αθλήτρια (el) f ‎(athlítria) (athlítria)

• Hebrew: אתלט (he) [atlet]
• Hungarian: atléta (hu)
• Ido: atleto (io)
• Indonesian: atlet (id)
• Italian: atleta (it) m, f, sportivo (it) m, sportiva f
• Japanese: 運動選手 (ja) ‎(うんどうせんしゅ, undō senshu), (male) スポーツマン ‎(supōtsuman), アスリート (ja) ‎(asurīto)
• Maori: kaipara
• Norwegian: atlet m
• Polish: sportowiec (pl) m, sportsmenka f
• Portuguese: atleta (pt) m, f
• Romanian: atlet (ro) m, atletă (ro) f, atleți m pl, atlete f pl
• Russian: спортсме́н (ru) m ‎(sportsmén), спортсме́нка (ru) f ‎(sportsménka), атле́т (ru) m ‎(atlét), атле́тка (ru) f ‎(atlétka)
• Spanish: atleta m, f, deportista (es) m, f
• Swahili: mwanariadha (sw)
• Swedish: atlet (sv) c

exceptionally physically fit person

• Catalan: atleta (ca) m, f
• Finnish: atleetti (fi)
• French: athlète (fr) m, f
• Galician: atleta (gl) m, f

• Maori: waetea
• Norwegian: spreking m, atlet m
• Romanian: persoană atletică f, atlet (ro) m
• Spanish: atletica

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: رياضَة (riyá:ɖa)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} atleto

• Korean: 운동가 (undongga)
• Sinhalese: ^{(please verify)} මලල ක්‍රීඩකයා ‎(malala k‍rīḍakayā)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} atlet