Where does “marathon” come from?
marathon (Latin) comes from Ancient Greek Μαραθών, from Ancient Greek -ών, from Proto-Indo-European -ónts, from Hungarian önt, from Hungarian ön, from Hungarian ön-, from Turkish ön, from Ottoman Turkish اوك — sound, voice.
Ancestry of “marathon”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Ancient Greek | Μαραθών | Marathon, a town northeast of Athens |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | -ών | forms words for places |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | -ónts | Derives nouns denoting body parts |
| 4 | Hungarian | önt | to pour; to cast; accusative singular of ön |
| 5 | Hungarian | ön | you |
| 6 | Hungarian | ön- | self- |
| 7 | Turkish | ön | front |
| 8 | Ottoman Turkish | اوك | — |
| 9 | Proto-Turkic | ǖn | sound, voice |