athletics

See also: Athletics

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æθˈlɛtɪks/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From athletic: see -ics. Probably formed on the model of gymnastics.^[1]

Noun

athletics pl (plural only)

2. (sports, especially British) A group of sporting activities including track and field, road running, cross country and racewalking.
3. (sports, especially US) Physical activities such as sports and games requiring stamina, fitness and skill.
   • 2009 January 17, William C. Rhoden, “University Sells Itself During Playoffs”, in The New York Times‎:

     The University of Phoenix, a for-profit educational institution, has turned the traditional relationship between athletics and higher education on its head, reducing it to its commercially exploitive essence.

Derived terms

• athleisurewear
• cyberathletics
• para-athletics

Related terms

• athleticism

Translations

(chiefly Britain) a group of sporting activities including track and field, road running, cross country and racewalking

Chinese: Mandarin: 田徑 / 田径 (zh) (tiánjìng) Finnish: yleisurheilu (fi) French: athlétisme (fr) Hungarian: atlétika (hu) Indonesian: atletik (id) Irish: lúthchleas m, cleasa lúith m pl Japanese: 陸上競技 (ja) Macedonian: атлетика f (atletika) Malay: olahraga (ms) Polish: atletyka (pl) f Ukrainian: атле́тика (uk) f (atlétyka)

(chiefly US) physical activities such as sports and games requiring stamina, fitness and skill

Albanian: atletikë (sq) Armenian: աթլետիկա (atʻletika) Bulgarian: атлѐтика f (atlètika) Chinese: Mandarin: 運動 / 运动 (zh) (yùndòng), 競技 / 竞技 (zh) (jìngjì), 體育 / 体育 (zh) (tǐyù) Czech: atletika (cs) f Danish: friidræt c, atletik (da) c Dutch: atletiek (nl) f Finnish: urheilu (fi) French: athlétisme (fr) m German: Athletik f Hindi: खेलकूद (khelkūd), व्यायाम (hi) m (vyāyām) Hungarian: sport (hu), sportolás (hu) Irish: lúthchleas m Italian: atletica (it) f Khmer: អត្តពលកម្ម (ʼattaʼpŏəlləkam) Macedonian: атлетика f (atletika) Maltese: atletika Maori: kaipara Norwegian: Bokmål: friidrett (no) m Nynorsk: friidrett m Polish: lekkoatletyka (pl), atletyka (pl) f Portuguese: atletismo (pt) m Romanian: atletism (ro) Russian: атле́тика (ru) f (atlétika) Spanish: atletismo (es) m Swahili: riadha (sw) Swedish: friidrott (sv) c Ukrainian: атле́тика (uk) f (atlétyka)

Etymology 2

From athletic +‎ -s.

Noun

athletics

1. plural of athletic

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “athletics (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.