athlete

See also: athlète

English

An athlete

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētēs), from ἀθλέω (athlēō, “compete for a prize”), from ἆθλον (athlon, “prize”) or ἆθλος (athlos, “competition”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈæθ.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”, American Scientist, 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 come out as gay.

2. (US) A person who actively participates in physical sports, possibly highly skilled in sports. (Known in British English as a "sportsperson".)
3. An exceptionally physically fit person.

Synonyms

• sportsperson

Translations

A person who actively participates in physical sports, possibly highly skilled in sports

• Albanian: atlet (sq) m, atlete (sq) f
• Arabic: رياضي m (riyaaDiy), رياضية f (riyaaDíyya)
• Bulgarian: атлет (atlet), спортист (bg) (sportist)
• Catalan: atleta m, f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 運動員, 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 f
• Greek: αθλητής (el) m (athlitís) (athlitís), αθλήτρια (el) f (athlítria) (athlítria)

• Hebrew: אתלט (he) [atlet]
• Hungarian: atléta (hu)
• Italian: atleta (it) m, f, sportivo (it) m, sportiva f
• Japanese: 運動選手 (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)
• 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: спортсмен (ru) m (sportsmén), спортсменка (ru) f (sportsménka), атлет (ru) m (atlét), атлетка (ru) f (atlétka)
• Spanish: atleta m, f, deportista (es) m, f
• Swahili: mwanariadha (sw)
• Swedish: atlet (sv) c

A participant in a group of sporting activities which includes track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking

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

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

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

• Hungarian: atléta (hu)
• 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 f
• Portuguese: atleta (pt) m, f
• Russian: легкоатлет (ru) m (lexkoatlét)
• Swahili: mwanariadha (sw)
• Swedish: friidrottare (sv)

an exceptionally physically fit person

• Catalan: atleta m, f
• Finnish: atleetti (fi)
• Galician: atleta (gl) m, f

• 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: رياضة (riyá:ɖa)
• French: athlète
• Ido: atleto

• Korean: 운동가 (undongga)
• Sinhalese: මලල ක්‍රීඩකයා
• Swedish: atlet