marathon

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.[1]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmæɹəθən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmæɹəˌθɑn/, /ˈmɛɹəˌθɑn/
• Hyphenation: mar‧a‧thon

marathon (plural marathons)

1. A 42.195 kilometre (26 mile 385 yard) road race.
2. (figuratively, by extension) Any extended or sustained activity.

   He had a cleaning marathon the night before his girlfriend came over.

• -athon
• marathoner
• half marathon
• ultramarathon

marathon (third-person singular simple present marathons, present participle marathoning, simple past and past participle marathoned)

1. To run a marathon.
   • 2015 August 1, “‘I was cross that my child had to beg the prime minister for a drug’”, in The Guardian‎:

     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.

2. (informal, transitive) To watch or read a large number of instalments of (a film, book, TV series, etc.) in one sitting.

   We're going to marathon Star Trek next weekend.

• Audio

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marathon m (plural marathons, diminutive marathonnetje n)

1. marathon

From Ancient Greek Μαραθών (Marathṓn)

marathon m (plural marathons)

1. marathon

• marathonien

• “marathon” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).