Well attestedNamed from the place
marathon
noun · first attested 1896
The long race is named for a plain in Attica.
A footrace of 42.195 km; also any long, demanding effort.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 1896
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Marathon
- Step 2
Battle of Marathon
- In English
marathon
The modern race commemorates the run associated with the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE. The place-name became the word for the distance, then for any grind that feels that long.
Also pinned to Marathon
1 more from the same place
Greece
All 29 entries 27 more words from Greece
currantThe baking fruit is a worn-down word for Corinth.CorinthmagnetThe lodestone is named for Magnesia.MagnesiaacademyEvery academy is named for a grove outside Athens.AkademeialaconicA tight-lipped style is named for Sparta’s region.SpartaOlympicThe games are named for a sanctuary, not for Mount Olympus.OlympiaatticThe room under the roof is named for the region around Athens.AtticaBoeotianAn insult preserved from one Greek region's rivalry with another.BoeotiacosOne lettuce is named for a Greek island and the other for Rome.Kos