Reference.com

245 results for: Olympiad

Dictionary Entries (5 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Cite This Source
O·lym·pi·ad    Audio Help   [uh-lim-pee-ad, oh-lim-] Pronunciation Key
–noun (often lowercase)
1.a period of four years reckoned from one celebration of the Olympic Games to the next, by which the Greeks computed time from 776 b.c.
2.a celebration of the modern Olympic Games.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L Olympiad-, s. of Olympias < Gk Olympiás n. use of the adj.: of Olympus. See Olympia, -ad1]

—Related forms
O·lym·pi·ad·ic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopedia Articles (238 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic EncyclopediaCite This Source


Olympiad, unit of a chronological era of ancient Greece, a four-year period, each one beginning with the Olympic games. Timaeus (c.356-c.260 B.C.) of Sicily was the first to use, as a check on chronology, the list of victors kept in the gymnasium at Olympia. The first Olympiad was reckoned to have begun in 776 B.C. 
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press




View results from: Dictionary | Thesaurus | Encyclopedia | All Reference | the Web


Thesaurus: No results found. Would you like to search the Web for Olympiad?








Perform a new search, or try your search for "Olympiad" at: