marathon

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   any long and arduous undertaking

   Reading War and Peace was a marathon!

2. 2
   noun

   a footrace of 26 miles and 385 yards

   I trained to run a marathon.

3. 3
   noun

   Any extended or sustained activity.

   He had a cleaning marathon the night before his girlfriend came over.

4. 4
   verb

   To run a marathon.

   In less than two years, they and their family and friends have skydived, marathoned, tray-baked and dinner-danced their way to £130,000 for Duchenne research through their help4harry campaign.

5. 5
   verb

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

   We're going to marathon Star Trek next weekend.

6. 6
   noun

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

7. 7
   name

   A town in Attica, Greece, the site of the victory in 490 BC of heavily outnumbered Athenians against Persians.

8. 8
   name

   A place name elsewhere in the world:

Etymology

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.