Link Centre Dictionary

marathon

ma·rat·hon

UK/ˈmæɹəθən/ US/ˈmæɹəˌθɑn/ fairly common informal

noun

1.
2.

a footrace of 26 miles 385 yards

3.

a battle in 490 BC in which the Athenians and their allies defeated the Persians

Synonyms

Origin

From French marathon, coined in 1894 by linguist Michel Bréal for the first modern time Olympic Games after Ancient 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.

Phrases

  • half marathon
  • walking marathon

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.