marathon
/ˈmæɹəˌθɑn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.16 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To watch or read a large number of instalments of (a film, book, TV series, etc.) in one sitting.
Informal; Transitive verb
name
A town in Attica, Greece, the site of the victory in 490 BC of heavily outnumbered Athenians against Persians.
name
name
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Example Sentences
- "He had a cleaning marathon the night before his girlfriend came over."
- "I learned from the marathon that to finish a race you simply keep running."
- "After a marathon session that included more than 14 hours of mostly negative public comment, the council agreed 11 to 4 to fund the center, and then gaveled out just before 6 a.m."
- "In less than two years, they and their family and friends have skydived, marathoned, tray-baked and dinner-danced their way to £130,000 for Duchenne research through their help4harry campaign."
- "We're going to marathon Star Trek next weekend."
Etymology
Etymology tree Pre-Greekbor.? Ancient Greek μάραθον (márathon) Ancient Greek -ών (-ṓn) Ancient Greek Μαραθών (Marathṓn)lbor. French marathonubor. English marathon 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.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: marathon, Μαραθών
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmæɹəˌθɑn/
- British English: /ˈmæɹəθən/