OLYMPIAN

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Olympian mean? 

• OLYMPIAN (noun)
  The noun OLYMPIAN has 2 senses:

1. an athlete who participates in the Olympic games

2. a classical Greek god after the overthrow of the Titans

  Familiarity information: OLYMPIAN used as a noun is rare.

• OLYMPIAN (adjective)
  The adjective OLYMPIAN has 4 senses:

1. of the region of Olympia in Greece or its inhabitants

2. of or pertaining to the greater gods of ancient Greece whose abode was Mount Olympus

3. majestic in manner or bearing; superior to mundane matters

4. far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree

  Familiarity information: OLYMPIAN used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OLYMPIAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An athlete who participates in the Olympic games

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Olympian" is a kind of...):

athlete; jock (a person trained to compete in sports)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A classical Greek god after the overthrow of the Titans

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Olympian; Olympic god

Instance hypernyms:

Greek deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Greeks)

Derivation:

Olympian (of or pertaining to the greater gods of ancient Greece whose abode was Mount Olympus)

• OLYMPIAN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of the region of Olympia in Greece or its inhabitants

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

Olympian; Olympic

Context example:

Olympian plain

Pertainym:

Olympia (a plain in Greece in the northwestern Peloponnese; the chief sanctuary of Zeus and the site of the original Olympian Games)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or pertaining to the greater gods of ancient Greece whose abode was Mount Olympus

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

Olympian deities

Pertainym:

Mount Olympus (a mountain peak in northeast Greece near the Aegean coast; believed by ancient Greeks to be the dwelling place of the gods (9,570 feet high))

Derivation:

Olympian (a classical Greek god after the overthrow of the Titans)

Olympus (a mountain peak in northeast Greece near the Aegean coast; believed by ancient Greeks to be the dwelling place of the gods (9,570 feet high))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Majestic in manner or bearing; superior to mundane matters

Synonyms:

majestic; olympian

Context example:

olympian beauty and serene composure

Similar:

superior (of or characteristic of high rank or importance)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree

Synonyms:

exceeding; exceptional; olympian; prodigious; surpassing

Context example:

the young Mozart's prodigious talents

Similar:

extraordinary (beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable)

 Context examples 

Of course, Beaumont was the real boss; but he lived in the rarefied atmosphere of some Olympian height from which he could distinguish nothing smaller than an international crisis or a split in the Cabinet.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)