marathon

CEFRC1

/ˈmæɹəθən/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A long running race of about 42 kilometers.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Any extended or sustained activity.

Examples

  • The doctor forbade me from taking part in the marathon.

  • The marathon will be held, rain or shine.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. To run a marathon.

  2. A 42.195-kilometre (26-mile-385-yard) road race.

verb

Extra meaning

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

More examples

In context

  • She came second in the marathon.

  • 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.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She trained for months to run the 26-mile blank through the city streets on Sunday.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.