discus

noun

dis·​cus ˈdi-skəs How to pronounce discus (audio)
plural discuses
: a heavy disk (as of wood or plastic) that is thicker in the center than at the perimeter and that is hurled for distance as a track-and-field event
also : the event

Illustration of discus

Illustration of discus

Examples of discus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
There are two goals on discus athlete and Texas native Valarie Allman's mind while at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris: winning gold and Texas barbecue. —Brandi D. Addison, Austin American-Statesman, 9 Aug. 2024 Other finals of note are the women’s pole vault, men’s discus and men’s 3,000 steeplechase. —John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2024 Allman wrapped up the gold medal in discus throwing before the event was over. —Jason Mastrodonato, The Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2024 Men’s discus qualification, 4:10 a.m. Women’s pole vault qualification, 4:40 a.m. Women’s 400-m hurdles repechages, 4:50 a.m. —Bychris Morris, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for discus 

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin discus, borrowed from Greek dískos "discus," in Late Greek also "dish, round mirror, the sun's disk, gong," of uncertain origin

Note: For English loanwords going back to dískos see dais, desk, dish entry 1, and disk entry 1. Greek dískos is generally said to be a derivative of the verb dikeîn "to throw, cast, fling" (aorist only), presumably as a simplification of *dikskos, with a suffix -sk-. P. Chantraine is certain of this in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, but less confident in La formation des noms en grec ancien, where this etymology is followed by a question mark (p. 405). Clearly, if such a suffix existed in Greek, the evidence is meager (and the productivity of the diminutive suffix -isko- is not relevant). R. Beekes (Etymological Dictionary of Greek) suggests that the earlier form was *diks-, which together with dikeîn is of non-Indo-European substratal origin, citing Edzard Furnée, Die wichtigsten konsonantischen Erscheinungen des Vorgriechischen (Mouton, 1972), p. 297.

First Known Use

1581, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of discus was in 1581

Phrases Containing discus

Dictionary Entries Near discus

discurtain

discus

discuss

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Discus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discus. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.

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Kids Definition

discus

noun
dis·​cus ˈdis-kəs How to pronounce discus (audio)
plural discuses
: a heavy disk that is hurled for distance in a track-and-field event
also : the event

Medical Definition

discus

noun
dis·​cus ˈdis-kəs How to pronounce discus (audio)
plural disci -ˌkī How to pronounce discus (audio) -kē How to pronounce discus (audio)
: any of various rounded and flattened anatomical structures

More from Merriam-Webster on discus

Nglish: Translation of discus for Spanish Speakers

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