Olympic Games

English

Etymology

From Olympic + games, after Middle French ieux olympiques.

Proper noun

Olympic Games

(historical, Ancient Greece) A sporting festival held every four or five years on the Plain of Olympia in southern Greece, in honour of Zeus. [from 16th c.]
The first Olympic Games are traditionally dated to 776 BC.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
  In the times of the Olimpike games, with chariots exceeding all other in magnificence, he also sent poets and musitians to present his verses, with tents and pavillions gilt and most suinptuously tapistried.
- 1840, John Dunlop, The Universal Tendency to Association in Mankind. Analyzed and Illustrated, London: Houlston and Stoneman, page 103:
  Olympic Games. — Besides the ordinary confederacies that join independent states together, a singular federal bond is remarkable in the Olympic games, which for many ages cemented the Grecian commonwealths by a joint tie of recreation and religious ritual.
An international multi-sport event (inspired by the ancient festival) taking place every fourth year. [from 19th c.]
Every athlete's dream is to compete at the Olympic Games.
- 2009, Owen Gibson, The Guardian, 28 September:
  Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games received a boost yesterday when its most famous former resident, the American president, Barack Obama, ended months of speculation by announcing that he would fly to Copenhagen before Friday's vote, in order to lobby on the city's behalf.

Synonyms

Olympics
Games of the Olympiad

Related terms

Olympia
Olympiad
Olympian
Olympic
Olympic Summer Games
Olympic Winter Games
Paralympic Games
Summer Olympic Games
Winter Olympic Games

Translations

sporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece

Greek:
Ancient: Ὀλύμπια n pl (Olúmpia)
Finnish: Olympian kisat pl, antiikin olympialaiset pl (specific); olympialaiset (fi) pl (also modern games)
Hungarian: olümpiai játékok
Italian: giochi olimpici m pl
Polish: Igrzyska olimpijskie n pl, Olimpiada f
Romanian: jocuri olimpice (ro) f pl, jocuri olimpice (ro) f pl

international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — See also translations at Olympics

Afrikaans: Olimpiese Spele
Arabic: أَلْعَاب أُولِمْبِيَّة‎ f pl (ʾalʿāb ʾulimbiyya), أُولِمْبِيَّة‎ f (ʾulimbiyya)
Aragonese: Chuegos Olimpicos m pl
Armenian: օլիմպիական խաղեր pl (ōlimpiakan xałer)
Asturian: Xuegos Olímpicos m pl
Azerbaijani: Olimpiya oyunları
Banyumasan: Olimpiade
Basque: Olinpiar Jokoak
Belarusian: Алімпі́йскія гу́льні f pl (Alimpíjskija húlʹni)
Bengali: অলিম্পিক গেমস (ôlimpik gemôsô), অলিম্পিক্স (ôlimpiksô)
Breton: C'hoarioù Olimpek
Bulgarian: Олимпи́йски и́гри f pl (Olimpíjski ígri)
Burmese: အိုလံပစ် (my) (uilampac), အိုလံပစ် အားကစားပွဲတော် (uilampac a:ka.ca:pwai:tau)
Catalan: Jocs Olímpics m pl
Chinese:
Cantonese: 奧林匹克運動會, 奥林匹克运动会 (ou³ lam⁴ pat¹ hak¹ wan⁶ dung⁶ wui⁶), 奧運會, 奥运会 (ou³ wan⁶ wui⁶)
Mandarin: 奧林匹克運動會／奥林匹克运动会 (zh) (Àolínpǐkè yùndònghuì), 奧運會／奥运会 (zh) (Àoyùnhuì), 奧林匹克／奥林匹克 (zh) (Àolínpǐkè)
Min Nan: Olympia Ūn-tōng-hoē
Czech: olympijské hry (cs) f pl
Danish: Olympiske lege pl
Dhivehi: އޮލީމްޕީކްސް‎ (olīm̊pīk̊s)
Dutch: Olympische Spelen (nl) pl
Esperanto: Olimpiaj ludoj
Estonian: Nüüdisaegsed olümpiamängud
Faroese: olympiskir leikir m pl, OL
Finnish: olympialaiset (fi) pl, olympiakisat (fi) pl
French: Jeux olympiques (fr) m pl
Middle French: jeux Olympiques m pl
Galician: Xogos Olímpicos m pl
Georgian: ოლიმპიური თამაშები (olimṗiuri tamašebi)
German: Olympische Spiele (de) n pl, Olympiade (de) f
Greek: Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες (el) m pl (Olympiakoí Agónes)
Hebrew: הַמִשְׂחָקִים הַאוֹלִימְפִּיִּים‎ m pl (hamis'khakím ha'olimpiyim)
Hindi: ओलम्पिक खेल m (olampik khel), ओलंपिक (olampik), ओलंपिक खेल m (olampik khel)
Hungarian: olimpiai játékok (hu)
Icelandic: Ólympíuleikar m pl
Indonesian: Olimpiade, Pertandingan Olimpiade
Interlingua: Jocos Olympic
Irish: Cluichí Oilimpeacha m pl
Italian: giochi olimpici m pl
Japanese: オリンピック (ja) (Orimpikku), オリンピック競技大会 (Orinpikku kyōgi taikai), 五輪 (ja) (Gorin)
Kannada: ಒಲಂಪಿಕ್ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಕೂಟ (olampik krīḍākūṭa)
Kazakh: Олимпиада ойындары (Olimpiada oiyndary)
Khmer: កីឡាអូឡាំពិក (kəylaa olimpik)
Korean: 올림픽 경기 (Ollimpik gyeonggi), 올림픽 (ko) (Ollimpik), 오륜(五輪) (ko) (oryun)
Kyrgyz: Олимпиада (Olimpiada)
Lao: ກີລາແຫລມທອງ (kī lā lǣ ma thǭng)
Latin: Olympia
Latvian: Olimpiskās spēles pl
Limburgish: Olympische Speule n pl
Lithuanian: Olimpinės žaidynės pl
Luxembourgish: Olympesch Spiller n pl
Macedonian: Олимпи́ски игри f pl (Olimpíski igri)
Malay: Sukan Olimpik
Malayalam: ഒളിമ്പിക്സ് (oḷimpiksŭ)
Maltese: Logħob Olimpiku m pl
Maori: Ngā Taumāhekeheke o Te Ao
Marathi: ऑलिंपिक (ŏlimpik)
Mongolian: Олимпийн наадам (Olimpiin naadam)
Navajo: ahąą honinééh
Norman: Gammes Olŷmpiques (Guernsey), Gammes Olympiques f pl (Jersey)
Norwegian: Olympiske leker
Nynorsk: Olympiske leikar
Persian: بازی‌های المپیک‎ (Bâzi-hâ-ye Olampik)
Piedmontese: Gieugh olìmpich
Polish: Igrzyska olimpijskie n pl
Portuguese: Jogos Olímpicos m pl, Olimpíadas f pl
Quechua: Ulimpiku pukllaykuna
Romanian: Jocuri Olimpice n pl, Olimpiadă (ro) f
Russian: Олимпи́йские и́гры (ru) f pl (Olimpíjskije ígry), олимпиа́да (ru) f (olimpiáda)
Samoan: Ta'aloga Olimipeka (sm)
Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan Oilimpigeach m pl
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Олимпијске игре f pl
Roman: Olimpijske igre f pl
Sicilian: Jòcura Olìmpici m pl
Slovak: Olympijské hry f pl
Slovene: Olimpijske igre (sl) f pl
Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos (es) m pl
Swahili: Michezo ya Olimpiki
Swedish: Olympiska Spelen n pl
Tagalog: palarong olimpiko
Tajik: Бозиҳои Олимпӣ pl (Bozihoyi Olimpī)
Tamil: ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் (olimpik viḷaiyāṭṭukkaḷ)
Tatar: Олимпия уеннары (Olimpiyäuyennarı)
Telugu: ఒలింపిక్ క్రీడలు (olimpik krīḍalu)
Thai: กีฬาโอลิมปิก (geelaa ohlimbpìk)
Turkish: Olimpiyat Oyunları (tr)
Turkmen: olimpiada oýunlary
Ukrainian: Олімпі́йські і́гри f pl (Olimpíjsʹki íhry)
Urdu: اولمپکس‎ (olampik)
Uzbek: Olimpiya oʻyinlari
Venetian: Xoghi Ołinpeghi
Vietnamese: Thế vận hội
Volapük: lepleds lümpik, Lepleds Lümpik
Võro: olümpiamängoq
Waray-Waray: pauyag olimpiko
Welsh: Gemau Olympaidd
West Frisian: Olympyske Spullen n pl
Yoruba: Idije Olympiki