Sport & ContestGreek → English
Tetrathlon
/tɛˈtræθlɒn/noun
A four-event competition, most commonly riding, shooting, swimming and running.
The Greek roots
τετρα-
tetra-
four
ἆθλον
âthlon
contest, prize
Literally: “four contests”
The story of the word
Greek athletics had a πένταθλον and no tetrathlon; this one is a modern back-formation, cut down from the modern pentathlon by dropping the fencing. Pony Club riders made it their own event, which is why the horse stayed and the sword went. The ending is ἆθλον, the prize laid out for the winner, and the athlete is literally the person competing for it.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → modern sporting coinage → English
- First recorded
- 20th century
Same family
pentathlondecathlonbiathlontetrahedronathlete
In a sentence
She placed second in the tetrathlon and lost it all on the shooting round.