French marathon, coined in 1894 by linguist Michel Bréal for the first modern time Olympic Games after 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.
marathon (plural marathons)
- A 42.195 kilometre (26 mile 385 yard) road race.
- (figuratively, by extension) Any extended or sustained activity.
- He had a cleaning marathon the night before his girlfriend came over.
- ^ "Μα^ρα^θών". A Greek-English Lexicon. 1940. Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott. 12 September 2013, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=*maraqw/n.
marathon m (plural marathons)