pentathlon

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πένταθλον (péntathlon), from πέντε (pénte, “five”) + ἆθλον (âthlon, “contest”). By surface analysis, penta- +‎ -athlon.

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pentathlon (plural pentathlons or pentathla)

1. An ancient athletics discipline, featuring five events: stadion, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus

   Synonyms: ancient pentathlon, Greek pentathlon, ancient Greek pentathlon

2. (athletics) Ellipsis of women's pentathlon (“a 20th-century athletics discipline for women, the women's counterpart of the men's decathlon, the predecessor to the women's heptathlon, featuring five events: hurdles, shot put, high jump, long jump, and a run”).
3. (athletics) Ellipsis of modern pentathlon, a discipline with five events based on late-19th century basic military skills.
   • 2008 August 21, “The old school survives at the Olympics, amid new events”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 23 January 2025:

     In the end, why not be happy with both, with the BMXes and the pentathlons, with the swans of synchro and the Quasimodos of wrestling? Sweet.

   • 2021 November 3, Victor Mather, “Modern Pentathlon Drops Equestrian Competition After Abuse Claims”, in The New York Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 5 November 2025:

     Dwindling interest and a reputation for being outdated couldn’t change modern pentathlon. A brief video clip of a coach punching a horse at the Tokyo Olympics has altered it forever.
     After more than a century of having its participants compete by running, shooting, fencing, swimming and riding, modern pentathlon will drop equestrian jumping from the event, the sport’s federation said Thursday.

• pentathlete

• → Japanese: ペンタスロン (pentasuron)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πένταθλον (péntathlon).

• IPA^(key): /pɛ̃.tat.lɔ̃/

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pentathlon m (plural pentathlons)

1. pentathlon (discipline made up of five events)

• pentathlon des neiges

• “pentathlon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• pentatlon, pentatlo (rare)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πένταθλον (péntathlon).

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛn.ta.tlon/
• Rhymes: -ɛntatlon
• Hyphenation: pèn‧tath‧lon

pentathlon m (invariable)

1. pentathlon

• pentathlon in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
• pentathlon in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
• pentathlon in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• pentathlon in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
• pèntathlon in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• pèntathlon o pèntatlon o pèntatlo in sapere.it – De Agostini Editore
• pèntatlon in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana