atleta

See also: atléta and atletą

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āthlēta, from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈtleta/ [aˈt̪le.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: a‧tle‧ta

Noun

atleta m or f (plural atletes)

1. athlete

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āthlēta, from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əlˈlɛ.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əlˈle.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [adˈle.ta]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

atleta m or f by sense (plural atletes)

1. athlete

Related terms

• atlètic
• atletisme

Further reading

• “atleta”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “atleta”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “atleta” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “atleta” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish atleta (“athlete”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /atˈleta/, [at̪.ˈle.t̪a]
• Hyphenation: at‧le‧ta

Noun

atleta

1. athlete

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈtleta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: a‧tle‧ta

Adjective

atleta (accusative singular atletan, plural atletaj, accusative plural atletajn)

1. athletic

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin āthlēta, from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs).

Noun

atleta m or f by sense (plural atletas)

1. athlete

Related terms

• atlético
• atletismo

Further reading

• “atleta”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āthlēta, from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈtlɛ.ta/
• Rhymes: -ɛta
• Hyphenation: a‧tlè‧ta

Noun

atleta m or f by sense (masculine plural atleti, feminine plural atlete)

1. (sports) athlete

Derived terms

• biatleta
• triatleta

Related terms

• atletica
• atletico

See also

• sportivo

Further reading

• atleta in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• aletta, lattea, telata

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin āthlēta, from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈtlɛ.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛta
• Syllabification: a‧tle‧ta

Noun

atleta m pers (female equivalent atletka)

1. (dated) athlete (sportsman practising strength disciplines such as weightlifting or boxing)
2. athlete (extremely physically fit or muscular person)

   Synonyms: atletyk, paker, mięśniak, osiłek

Declension

Declension of atleta

	singular	plural
nominative	atleta	atleci/atlety (deprecative)
genitive	atlety	atletów
dative	atlecie	atletom
accusative	atletę	atletów
instrumental	atletą	atletami
locative	atlecie	atletach
vocative	atleto	atleci

Derived terms

adjective

• atletyczny

adverb

• atletycznie

nouns

• atletyk
• atletyka
• lekkoatletyka

Further reading

• atleta in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• atleta in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• ateleta (Portugal, misspelling)
• athleta (pre-standardization spelling)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁-der.

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-tromder.

Ancient Greek ἆθλον (âthlon)

Ancient Greek ᾱ̓θλέω (āthléō)

Proto-Hellenic *-tās

Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs)

Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs)bor.

Latin āthlētalbor.

Portuguese atleta

Learned borrowing from Latin āthlēta, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs), from ᾱ̓θλέω (āthléō) + -τής (-tḗs).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈtlɛ.tɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈtlɛ.tɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈtlɛ.ta/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈtlɛ.tɐ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtɐ
• Hyphenation: a‧tle‧ta

Noun

atleta m or f by sense (plural atletas)

1. athlete
   • 1934 October 15, “Tentativas de Beccali para melhorar o recorde de 1.500 mts. [Attempts by Beccali to improve the 1500-mt. record]”, in A Tribuna, volume XLI, number 203, Santos, page 3:

     O grande athleta italiano Beccali, que muito sobresaiu nas ultimas Olympiadas de Los Angeles, encontra-se presentemente nos Estados Unidos […]

     The great Italian athlete Beccali, who excelled in the last Los Angeles Olympics, find himself currently in the United States […]

Related terms

• atlético
• atletismo
• paratleta

Further reading

• “atleta”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “atleta”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• àtlēt (Croatia)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /atlěːta/

Noun

atleta m anim (Cyrillic spelling атлета)

1. (Bosnia, Serbia, historical) fighter (in ancient Greek Olympics)
2. (Bosnia, Serbia) a bodybuilding competition winner
3. (Bosnia, Serbia) a strongman, athletic person

Coordinate terms

• sportaš (Croatia), sportista

Further reading

• “atleta”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āthlēta, from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /adˈleta/ [að̞ˈle.t̪a] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /aˈtleta/ [aˈt̪le.t̪a] (Latin America)
• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: a‧tle‧ta

Noun

atleta m or f by sense (plural atletas)

1. athlete (competitor in a sport)
2. a physically fit person

Derived terms

• atletismo
• pie de atleta

Related terms

• atlético

Descendants

• → Chavacano: atleta

Further reading

• “atleta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish atleta (“athlete”), from Latin āthlēta, from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔatˈleta/ [ʔɐt̪ˈl̪ɛː.t̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: at‧le‧ta

Noun

atleta (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜆ᜔ᜎᜒᜆ)

1. athlete

   Synonym: manlalaro

Related terms

• atletiko
• atletiks
• atletismo

Further reading

• “atleta”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “atleta”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018