marathon

英 ['mærəθ(ə)n]美 ['mærə,θɑn]
  • n. 马拉松赛跑；耐力的考验
  • adj. 马拉松式的；有耐力的
  • vi. 参加马拉松赛跑
CET6+ TEM4 中低频词 扩展词汇

助记提示

1. 音译“马拉松”。

公元前490年，一场激烈的战役在位于雅典东北40公里处的村镇——马拉松（Marathon）打响。最终，雅典人在米太亚得的统率下，打败了波斯人。

这是一场决定性的战役。通过这场战役，雅典人击退了波斯人的入侵，拯救了希腊，结束了第一次米堤亚战争。

为了尽快将胜利的消息告知国人，雅典军队派了一名赛跑运动员回去报信。这名运动员从战场一口气跑到了雅典城。当他到达目的地，刚宣布完胜利的喜讯后，就一头栽倒在地，力竭而死。

为了纪念这位勇敢的士兵，人们于19世纪末设立了一个距离为42.195公里的长跑比赛项目并将其命名为“马拉松”。

时至今天，马拉松赛跑已成为奥运会的收官项目。

中文词源

marathon 马拉松

来自古希腊地名Marathon,字面意思为茴香，即长满茴香的土地。来自公元前490年，在Battle of Marathon战役中，希腊联军打败了波斯军队，战士Pheidippides从Marathon一路不停奔跑将这一喜迅传达给雅典，最后力竭而死。其路程约为42.195公里，后为纪念他，在1896年首次在雅典举行的奥林匹克运动会上设置了这一比赛项目，即marathon race.

英文词源

marathon
marathon: [19] According to tradition, when the Greek army defeated the Persians at Marathon, on the northeast coast of Attica, in 490 BC, the runner Pheidippides was dispatched to bring the good news to Athens (in fact there is no contemporary evidence for the story, which is not recorded until 700 years after the event). When the modern Olympic Games were first held, in Athens in 1896, a long-distance race was introduced to commemorate the ancient feat, run over a course supposedly equal in distance to that from Marathon to Athens (about 35 km/22 miles).

The present distance (42.195 km/26 miles 385 yards) was established at the 1908 London Olympics (the odd yards were added to bring the finishing line in front of the royal box).
marathon (n.)
1896, marathon race, from story of Greek hero Pheidippides, who in 490 B.C.E. ran the 26 miles and 385 yards to Athens from the Plains of Marathon to tell of the allied Greek victory there over Persian army. The original story (Herodotus) is that he ran from Athens to Sparta to seek aid, which arrived too late to participate in the battle. Introduced as an athletic event in the 1896 revival of the Olympic Games, based on a later, less likely story, and quickly extended to mean "any very long event or activity." The place name is literally "fennel-field." Related: Marathoner (by 1912).

双语例句

1. Rodgers can also claim four victories in the New York Marathon.
罗杰斯也能在纽约马拉松比赛中4次夺冠。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Another Cup marathon between the two sides is now a distinct possibility.
双方很可能再进行一场马拉松式的优胜杯比赛。
来自柯林斯例句
3. A thirty-nine-year-old competitor collapsed half-way through the marathon and died shortly afterwards.
一名39岁的马拉松参赛者跑到一半时瘫倒在地，没过多久就死了。
来自柯林斯例句
4. People make marathon journeys to buy glass here.
人们千里迢迢赶到这里购买玻璃。
来自柯林斯例句
5. to run a marathon
参加马拉松赛跑
来自《权威词典》