ἀθλητής

Forms

ἀθλητής (athlētḗs) m (genitive ᾱ̓θλητοῦ); first declension^[1] Ionic and poetic ἀεθλητής; an inscription from Larisa has ἀθλητάς.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀθλέω (āthléō, “to contend”) + -τής (-tḗs), with the agent suffix.^[1] The verb is from Ancient Greek ἄεθλος (áethlos, “contest, prize”), Attic ἆθλος (âthlos), whose derivatives Beekes lists together with the Homeric ἀθλητήρ (athlētḗr).^[4][5]

The origin of the noun is not established.^[5] Beekes thinks it looks Indo-European and suggests a root Proto-Indo-European *h₂wedʰ-, but rejects the comparison with Sanskrit वायति (vāyati, “is tired”).^[4] Chantraine notes that this comparison would only fit if the first meaning were “toil”, while the Homeric evidence points to “contest for a prize”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Odyssey has the older form ἀθλητήρ (athlētḗr).^[6] The word itself is first found in Pindar's odes, in the 6th–5th century BC, in the Ionic form ἀεθλητής, for a competitor in the games.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it was a competitor in athletic contests, in Euripides, Thucydides, Xenophon and Plato.^[3][2] Plato also used it with a genitive for a practised master of something, as of war, and Demosthenes of noble deeds, while Polybius and Plutarch extended this to politics and vice.^[3][7] As an adjective it described a racehorse in Lysias and Plato.^[7]

Gorgias already used it figuratively, and so did later writers, of a champion of virtue.^[8][7] Christian writers applied it to martyrs, “athletes” of God, in Clement of Rome, Ignatius and the letter of the churches of Gaul.^[8][7][2] It was borrowed as Latin athleta.^[9]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for a fighter for the faith, a martyr.^[10] Modern Greek αθλητής (athlitís) is a learned word for a sportsman, with the Hellenistic figurative sense of a champion of the Christian faith.^[11]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses the Ionic form for competitors in the games.^[7][2]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides and Euripides use the Attic form for athletes.^[2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Lysias and Plato use it as an adjective of a racehorse, and Plato of a master of war.^[7]
• 2nd century AD – Marcus Aurelius uses it of one who contends in the greatest contest.^[2]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for a martyr.^[10]
• Modern Greek – αθλητής (athlitís) means a sportsman.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A competitor in athletic contests; an athlete, a champion.^[3][7]
2. A competitor in another kind of contest, as in music.^[3]
3. (figurative, with a genitive) A practised master of something.^[7][3]
4. (Christian) A martyr, as a champion of the faith.^[7][8]
5. (as an adjective) Of a horse: used for racing.^[7][3]

Word family

• ἀθλητικός (āthlētikós)

Related words

• ἄεθλος (áethlos)
• ἀθλητήρ (athlētḗr)
• Latin athleta

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki