Meanings
proper nounthe Olympic Games pl (plural only)
- pluralplural onlyAn international multi-sport event (inspired by the ancient festival) taking place every fourth year.First known use 19th c.
Every athlete's dream is to compete at the Olympic Games.
1 more example
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.
2009 September 28, Owen Gibson, The GuardianSynonyms: Olympics, Games[Appendix:Glossary
- historicalpluralplural onlyAncient GreeceA sporting festival held every four or five years on the Plain of Olympia in southern Greece, in honour of Zeus; these games were the inspiration for the modern version, which began in the 1890s as a revival of the Ancient Greek ones.First known use 16th c.
The first Olympic Games are traditionally dated to 776 BC.
2 more examples
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.
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLCOlympic 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.
1840, John Dunlop, The Universal Tendency to Association in Mankind. Analyzed and Illustrated, London: Houlston and Stoneman, page 103Synonyms: Olympics
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounAn international multi-sport event (inspired by the ancient festival) taking place every fourth year.
Similar
OlympicsGames[Appendix:Glossary
proper nounA sporting festival held every four or five years on the Plain of Olympia in southern Greece, in honour of Zeus; these games were the inspiration for the modern version, which began in the 1890s as a revival of the Ancient Greek ones.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe modern revival of the ancient games held once every 4 years in a selected country
Broader
nounthe ancient Panhellenic celebration at Olympia in honor of Zeus; held every 4 years beginning in 776 BC
Similar
Olympian Games
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Frenchieux olympiques
- EnglishOlympic Games
From Olympic + games, after Middle French ieux olympiques.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Olimpiese Spele
- Olimpiese Speleinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Ancient Greek Ὀλύμπια
- Ὀλύμπια (Olúmpia)sporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
Arabic أَلْعَاب أُولِمْبِيَّة, أُولِمْبِيَّة
- أَلْعَاب أُولِمْبِيَّة (ʔalʕāb ʔulimbiyya)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- أُولِمْبِيَّة (ʔulimbiyya)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Basque Olinpiar Jokoak
- Olinpiar Jokoakinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Bengali অলিম্পিক গেমস, অলিম্পিক্স
- অলিম্পিক গেমস (olimpik gemoś)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- অলিম্পিক্স (olimpikśo)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Bulgarian Олимпи́йски и́гри
- Олимпи́йски и́гри (Olimpíjski ígri)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Catalan Jocs Olímpics
- Jocs Olímpicsinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Chinese Cantonese 奧林匹克運動會 /奥林匹克运动会, 奧運會 /奥运会
- 奧林匹克運動會 /奥林匹克运动会 (ou³ lam⁴ pat¹ hak¹ wan⁶ dung⁶ wui⁶)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- 奧運會 /奥运会 (ou³ wan⁶ wui⁶)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Chinese Mandarin 奧林匹克運動會 /奥林匹克运动会, 奧運會 /奥运会
- 奧林匹克運動會 /奥林匹克运动会 (Àolínpǐkè yùndònghuì)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- 奧運會 /奥运会 (Àoyùnhuì)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- 奧林匹克 /奥林匹克 (Àolínpǐkè)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Czech olympijské hry
- olympijské hryinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Danish Olympiske lege
- Olympiske legeinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Dutch Olympische Spelen
- Olympische Speleninternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Esperanto Olimpiaj ludoj
- Olimpiaj ludojinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Estonian Nüüdisaegsed olümpiamängud
- Nüüdisaegsed olümpiamängudinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Finnish olympialaiset, olympiakisat
- olympialaisetinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- olympiakisatinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- Olympian kisatsporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
- antiikin olympialaisetsporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
- olympialaisetsporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
French Jeux olympiques
- Jeux olympiquesinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
German Olympische Spiele, Olympiade
- Olympische Spieleinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- Olympiadeinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Greek Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες
- Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες (Olympiakoí Agónes)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Hebrew הַמִשְׂחָקִים הַאוֹלִימְפִּיִּים
- הַמִשְׂחָקִים הַאוֹלִימְפִּיִּים (hamis'khakím ha'olimpiyim)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Hindi ओलम्पिक खेल, ओलंपिक
- ओलम्पिक खेल (olampik khel)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- ओलंपिक (olampik)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- ओलंपिक खेल (olampik khel)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Hungarian olimpiai játékok, olümpiai játékok
- olimpiai játékokinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- olümpiai játékoksporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
Icelandic Ólympíuleikar
- Ólympíuleikarinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Indonesian Olimpiade, Pertandingan Olimpiade
- Olimpiadeinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- Pertandingan Olimpiadeinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Irish Cluichí Oilimpeacha
- Cluichí Oilimpeachainternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Italian giochi olimpici, giochi olimpici
- giochi olimpiciinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- giochi olimpicisporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
Japanese オリンピック, オリンピック競技大会
- オリンピック (Orimpikku)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- オリンピック競技大会 (Orinpikku kyōgi taikai)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- 五輪 (Gorin)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Korean 올림픽, 올림픽 경기
- 올림픽 (Ollimpik)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- 올림픽 경기 (Ollimpik gyeonggi)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- 오륜 (oryun)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Latin Olympia
- Olympiainternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Latvian Olimpiskās spēles
- Olimpiskās spēlesinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Lithuanian Olimpinės žaidynės
- Olimpinės žaidynėsinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Malay Sukan Olimpik
- Sukan Olimpikinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Māori Ngā Taumāhekeheke o Te Ao
- Ngā Taumāhekeheke o Te Aointernational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Norwegian Bokmål Olympiske leker
- Olympiske lekerinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Polish Igrzyska olimpijskie, Igrzyska olimpijskie
- Igrzyska olimpijskieinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- Igrzyska olimpijskiesporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
- Olimpiadasporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
Portuguese Jogos Olímpicos, Olimpíadas
- Jogos Olímpicosinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- Olimpíadasinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Romanian Jocuri Olimpice, Olimpiadă
- Jocuri Olimpiceinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- Olimpiadăinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- jocuri olimpicesporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
Russian Олимпи́йские и́гры, олимпиа́да
- Олимпи́йские и́гры (Olimpíjskije ígry)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- олимпиа́да (olimpiáda)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- Олимпи́йские и́гры (Olimpíjskije ígry)sporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
- олимпиа́да (olimpiáda)sporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
Scottish Gaelic Geamannan Oilimpigeach
- Geamannan Oilimpigeachinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Slovak olympijské hry
- olympijské hryinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Spanish Juegos Olímpicos
- Juegos Olímpicosinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Swahili Michezo ya Olimpiki
- Michezo ya Olimpikiinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Swedish olympiska spelen, OS
- olympiska speleninternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- OSinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- olympiska spelensporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece
Tagalog palarong olimpiko
- palarong olimpikointernational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Tamil ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள்
- ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் (olimpik viḷaiyāṭṭukkaḷ)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Thai กีฬาโอลิมปิก
- กีฬาโอลิมปิก (gii-laa-oo-lim-bpìk)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Turkish Olimpiyat Oyunları
- Olimpiyat Oyunlarıinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Ukrainian Олімпі́йські і́гри
- Олімпі́йські і́гри (Olimpíjsʹki íhry)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Urdu اولَمْپِک, اولَمْپِک کھیل
- اولَمْپِک (olampik)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- اولَمْپِک کھیل (olampik khel)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
- اولَمْپِکْس (olampiks)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Vietnamese Thế vận hội
- Thế vận hộiinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Welsh Gemau Olympaidd
- Gemau Olympaiddinternational multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Yiddish אָלימפּיאַדעס
- אָלימפּיאַדעס (olimpyades)international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics
Cite this entry
APA
Olympic Games. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Olympic%20Games
MLA
“Olympic Games.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Olympic%20Games. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Olympic Games,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Olympic%20Games.
Source: Olympic Games on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.