marathon
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From French marathon, coined in 1894 by linguist Michel Bréal for the first modern time Olympic Games after Greek Μαραθών (Marathṓn), a town northeast of Athens. Phidippides the Greek ran the distance from Marathon to Athens to deliver a message regarding the Battle of Marathon. The modern sport of marathon running is based on a run approximately the same distance. The toponym itself comes from μάραθον (márathon, “fennel”) and refers to the prevalence of the plant in the area.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmæɹəθən/
Audio (UK) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˈmæɹəˌθɑn/, /ˈmɛɹəˌθɑn/
- Hyphenation: mar‧a‧thon
Noun[edit]
marathon (plural marathons)
- A 42.195 kilometre (26 mile 385 yard) road race.
- (figuratively, by extension) Any extended or sustained activity.
- He had a cleaning marathon the night before his girlfriend came over.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
|
|
Verb[edit]
marathon (third-person singular simple present marathons, present participle marathoning, simple past and past participle marathoned)
- To run a marathon.
- 2015 August 1, “‘I was cross that my child had to beg the prime minister for a drug’”, in The Guardian[1]:
- In less than two years, they and their family and friends have skydived, marathoned, tray-baked and dinner-danced their way to £130,000 for Duchenne research through their help4harry campaign.
- (informal, transitive) To watch or read a large number of instalments of (a film, book, TV series, etc.) in one sitting.
- We're going to marathon Star Trek next weekend.
References[edit]
- ^ "Μα^ρα^θών". A Greek-English Lexicon. 1940. Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott. 12 September 2013, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=*maraqw/n.
Dutch[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (file)
Noun[edit]
marathon m (plural marathons, diminutive marathonnetje n)
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Ancient Greek Μαραθών (Marathṓn)
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
marathon m (plural marathons)
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “marathon” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
- English terms derived from French
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English informal terms
- English transitive verbs
- en:Athletics
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch masculine nouns
- French terms derived from Ancient Greek
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French countable nouns