Sport & ContestGreek → English
Triathlon
/traɪˈæθlɒn/noun
An endurance race combining swimming, cycling and running in one continuous event.
The Greek roots
τρι-
tri-
three
ἆθλον
âthlon
contest, prize
Literally: “three contests”
The story of the word
Built in the 1970s on the model of the ancient πένταθλον, though the ancient world had no such three-event race. The first modern triathlon of the current shape was run in San Diego in 1974. Ἆθλον means both the contest and the prize won in it, which is why an athlete is literally a prize-competitor.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → modern coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1970s
Same family
pentathlondecathlonathletebiathlon
In a sentence
He finished his first triathlon on a borrowed bike with the saddle too low.