# athletic

> English word · Adjective · IPA /æθˈlɛt.ɪk/ · frequency rank #5,855

## Definitions
1. Having to do with athletes.
2. Physically active.
3. Having a muscular, well developed body, being in shape.
4. An attribute of a motion or play which requires fine physical ability.
5. Of a level in a Super Mario game: with an emphasis on platforming challenge, often involving precise jumps between floating platforms above a bottomless pit, and having upbeat background music.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁-der.
Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr
Proto-Indo-European *-tromder.
Ancient Greek ἆθλον (âthlon)
Ancient Greek ᾱ̓θλέω (āthléō)
Proto-Hellenic *-tās
Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs)
Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs)
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Ancient Greek -κός (-kós)
Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós)
Ancient Greek ᾱ̓θλητῐκός (āthlētĭkós)bor.
Latin āthlēticuslbor.
Middle French athletiquebor.
English athletic
Borrowed from Middle French athletique and Latin āthlēticus, from Ancient Greek ἀθλητικός (athlētikós, “relating to an athlete”), from ἀθλητής (athlētḗs, “athlete”): equivalent to athlete + -ic. For more, see athlete.
The Super Mario sense is effectively a reborrowing of Japanese アスレチック (asurechikku, “obstacle course”), originally borrowed from English athletic; this sense was itself originally a clipping of the genericized wasei eigo trademark フィールドアスレチック (fīrudo asurechikku, “Field Athletic”).

## Easily confused with
- **athletics** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/athletic-vs-athletics)
- **athlete** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/athlete-vs-athletic)

## Common misspellings (12)
`ahtletic`, `atheltic`, `athhletic`, `athleitc`, `athletci`, `athleticc`, `athlettic`, `athlletic`, `athlteic`, `atlhetic`, `atthletic`, `tahletic`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/athletic