pentathlon

Name: pentathlon, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“pentathlon” is uncommon English (frequency #82,652 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,652
frequency rank, English: 46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An ancient athletics discipline, featuring five events: stadion, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus

Key facts for pentathlon
Property	Value
Headword	pentathlon
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
Letters	10
Frequency rank	#82,652
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “pentathlon” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). pentathlon lands here:

#82,652

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pentathlon is uncommon English at frequency #82,652 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for pentathlon, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Ancient Greek πένταθλον (péntathlon), from πέντε (pénte, “five”) + ἆθλον (âthlon, “contest”). By surface analysis, penta- + -athlon. The correct English form is pentathlon, spelled P-E-N-T-A-T-H-L-O-N.

Definition

1
An ancient athletics discipline, featuring five events: stadion, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus
2
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
Ellipsis of modern pentathlon, a discipline with five events based on late-19th century basic military skills.

Etymology

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

This word in other languages

pentatlón(Español)pentathlon(Français)Fünfkampf(Deutsch)pentatlo(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pentathlon"?

"pentathlon" is spelled P-E-N-T-A-T-H-L-O-N.

What does "pentathlon" mean?

As a noun, "pentathlon" means: An ancient athletics discipline, featuring five events: stadion, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus

What is the origin of the word "pentathlon"?

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πένταθλον (péntathlon), from πέντε (pénte, “five”) + ἆθλον (âthlon, “contest”). By surface analysis, penta- + -athlon. See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “pentathlon”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is P-E-N-T-A-T-H-L-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.