athlete

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæθ.ə.liːt/; /ˈæθ.liːt/ (UK); /ˈæθ.lit/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin āthlēta (“wrestler, athlete”), perhaps at first directly from Greek,^[2][3] from Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs, “prizefighter, contestant in the games”),^[3][2] from athleîn, to compete for a prize,^[3][2][4] from âthlos, a contest, and âthlon, a prize,^[3][2] a word of unknown origin.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A competitor in athletic games: probably before 1425, in Chauliac;^[2][3] athelete 1528.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that it first referred to competitors in the running, leaping, boxing and wrestling of the public games of Greece and Rome.^[4] Until the mid-18th century it was usually in the Latin form athleta,^[3] and Hoad records it once in the 15th century and in English use from the 18th.^[6] Old English had plegmann, play-man.^[3] Figurative use is from 1759,^[5] and one trained to great strength and agility from 1827.^[3][5] Athlete's foot is recorded by 1928.^[3][5] In British use an athlete is especially a competitor in track and field events.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1425 – athletez.^[2]
• 1528 – athelete.^[2]
• 1759 – figurative use.^[5]
• 1827 – a trained strongman.^[3]
• 1928 – athlete's foot.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person trained or skilled in sports or exercises needing strength, speed or endurance.
2. (chiefly British) A competitor in track and field events.

Word family

• biathlete
• decathlete
• heptathlete
• nonathlete
• pentathlete
• superathlete
• triathlete
• athlete's foot

Related words

• athletic
• athletics
• pentathlon
• decathlon

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins