ἀθλητικός

Forms

ᾱ̓θλητῐκός (āthlētikós) m (feminine ᾱ̓θλητῐκή, neuter ᾱ̓θλητῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs, “athlete, competitor”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1] The noun is an agent noun from ἀθλέω (āthléō, “to contend”), derived from ἄεθλος (áethlos, “contest, prize”), Attic ἆθλος (âthlos).^[1][2] Beekes thinks that the word looks Indo-European, perhaps from a root Proto-Indo-European *h₂wedʰ- (“contest”), but leaves its origin open.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in the Hippocratic treatise On Nutrition, which speaks of an athletic condition of the body that is not natural.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it describes what belongs to an athlete, above all the trained bodily condition: Aristotle discusses the athletic habit of body in the education of the young.^[3][5] Later it was used of athletic contests (Plutarch) and of a crown won in them, in a 2nd-century AD papyrus, and a papyrus of the 3rd century AD speaks of glue for the wheels of racing horses' chariots.^[3][5] Christian writers used it of the martyrs and of the believer's spiritual struggle, Clement of Alexandria among them.^[3]

It passed into Latin as athleticus, the source of English athletic (1630s), whose sense "strong of body" dates from the 1650s.^[6] Modern Greek αθλητικός (athlitikós) continues the ancient word as a learned form, and in the sense "of an athletic build" follows French athlétique.^[7]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic On Nutrition speaks of an athletic condition of the body.^[3][4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the athlete's habit of body in the Politics.^[5][3]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of athletic contests, and the adverb of acting like an athlete.^[5][3]
• 2nd century AD – A papyrus speaks of an athletic crown.^[5][3]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Clement of Alexandria uses it of the Christian's spiritual struggle.^[3]
• 5th century AD – Philostorgius uses it of the martyrs.^[3]
• 1630s – English borrows athletic through Latin.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or for an athlete, athletic.^[5][3]
2. Of competitions: for racing or contests.^[3]
3. (Christian) Of the martyrs' or the believer's spiritual struggle.^[3]

Related words

• ἀθλητής (athlētḗs)
• ἀθλέω (āthléō)
• ἄεθλος (áethlos)
• Latin athleticus
• English athletic

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki