Olympia/Olympic/Olympian

[skinem]

Ok, I'm looking for the etymolgy of this word--know (or assume) it's Greek. I'm looking for the meaning of the word. All I'm finding are things like "of, or relating to, the Olympics". Duh.

I also know it's a place name as in Mt. Olympia in Greece, Olympia, WA, Olympic Peninsula, Olympic National Park, etc.

But does the word Olympic actually mean something? Was it ancient Greek for 'high place', 'where the gods live', etc.?

Inquiring minds, well, ok, mind, singular, want to know.

[Slava]

But does the word Olympic actually mean something? Was it ancient Greek for 'high place', 'where the gods live', etc.?

Inquiring minds, well, ok, mind, singular, want to know.

You are correct in this one. It comes ultimately from Mt. Olympus, the home of the Gods in mythology. This lead to the naming of a town, where the games originated.

This should help:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Olympic

[skinem]

Thanks...it says etymology unknown.
I know about Mt. Olympus, heck I've been there...but still wonder about what the word means literally.
Maybe I'll never know...I tend to get to hung up on these types of things coming from an area of the country where so many things have Indian names and those names have a specific meaning.

[Slava]

Another shot at it, though the etymology does remain murky.

According to my Greek lexicon, Olympus actually comes from Ionian, and was the name of the highest mountain. It thus became used in Greek as the name of the highest point in lots of other places.

It was Homer who made it the home of the Gods. However, this is not Heaven; that's uranos.

So, the obvious connection is to "height." So sports figures who achieve this level of greatness are considered to be at the height of perfection, etc., etc.

I know it's not of much use, but that's all I have been able to come up with.

[LukeJavan8]

This site can be emailed and perhaps John, who runs
the site, would know.
http://ewonago.blogspot.com/

But, slava's "height" works for me.