olympic

Where does the word "olympic" come from? It comes from Greek Olympia, and was adopted directly into English (1800s).

Olympic’s story begins in Greek: Olympia meant “the site of the ancient games.” The sanctuary in Greece where the ancient athletic games were held. It reached English by 1800s as olympic. Adopted when the modern international games were revived in 1896. Today, olympic means relating to the Olympic Games, an international multi-sport event.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient Olympia "the site of the ancient games", the sanctuary in Greece where the ancient athletic games were held.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1800s olympic "relating to the international athletic games", adopted when the modern international games were revived in 1896.