Where does “Marathon” come from?
Marathon comes from Ancient Greek Μαραθών, derived from Ancient Greek μάραθον, a plant name of unknown ultimate origin.
Marathon (English): the site of the victory in 490 BC of heavily outnumbered Athenians against Persians
Definitions
- the site of the victory in 490 BC of heavily outnumbered Athenians against Persians
Ancestry of “Marathon”, step by step
Marathon traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French marathon
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | marathon | marathon |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | Μαραθών | Marathon, a town northeast of Athens |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | -ών | forms words for places |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -ónts | Derives nouns denoting body parts |
| 5 | Hungarian | önt | to pour; to cast; accusative singular of ön |
| 6 | Hungarian | ön | you |
| 7 | Hungarian | ön- | self- |
| 8 | Turkish | ön | front |
| 9 | Ottoman Turkish | اوك | voice (of human or animal); sound |
| 10 | Proto-Turkic | ǖn | sound, voice |
via Ancient Greek Μᾰρᾰθών
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ancient Greek | Μᾰρᾰθών | Marathon, Attica, Greece |