Arete

The Vocabulary of Sport

The Vocabulary of Sport  game < ME game(n) < OHG gaman “glee” 

sport < disport < L dis + portare “to carry away”“to divert or amuse oneself” 

disportChaucer. The Parlement of Foules.

And in a privee corner, in disporte, Fond I Venus and hir porter Richesse.

 Chaucer. Wife of Bath’s PrologueHe hadde a book that gladly nyght and dayfor his di{s}port he wolde rede alway Milton. Paradise Lost. IX. 1041-1043

There they their fill of love and love's disport Took largely, of their mutual guilt the sealThe solace of their sin.

Proverbs 10.23 (King James Version)It is as sport to a fool to do mischief.

Judges 16.25 (King James Version)And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, that they said, Call

for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport; and they set him between the pillars.

Evolution of the word “Sport”(from the Oxford English Dictionary)

sport < disport < L dis + portare “to carry away”1. a) A pleasant pastime; entertainment or amusement; recreation; diversion (1440)b)      Amorous dalliance or intercourse (1550)c)       Pastime afforded by the endeavour to take or kill wild animals, game or fish. (1653)e)       In the proverbial expression the sport of kings, originally applied to war-making, but later extended to hunting and horse-racing (1668)d.)     Participation in games or exercise, especially those of an athletic character or pursued in the open air; such games or amusements collectively (1863)2. a)  in sport, in jest or joke, by way of fun or diversion; not seriously or in earnest (1440)b)      Jest, jesting; mirth or merriment (1671)

“Sport” Around the World

Most other modern languages derived their word from the English word:

Ukranian                spórtModern Greek       SporItalian                    sportGerman SportDutch                    sportGaelic                   sporsTurkish                 sporRumanian              SpórtJapanese                supotsu

Other Important Sports Terms

recreationto remake, recreate

diversionto turn aside, divert

contest/contestantstruggle for victory or superiorityfrom Latin for “testifying or witnessing together”

compete/competition/competitorstruggle or rivalrycontest for prizefrom Latin for “seeking together”

gynmasiumfrom Greek for “naked”

areteGreek word for excellence, virtue

ludusLatin word for game or school

Greek Athletic Vocabularysense of competition (agon) for a prize (athlos)

agon—agonyathlos—athlete

athletes "someone who competes for a prize (athlos)” arete Greek word for excellence, virtue 

kaloskagathos "good and noble"  

The terms “sport” and “game” imply leisure and amusement which do not apply to Greek athletics.  Greeks did not know the ideal of “being a good sport.” Greek culture was highly competitive. Rather they believed that 

A nice guys finish last.A winning isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing.Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.

Greeks did not limit such competition to athletics. There were also poetic and musical competitions as well.  

Philosophy of SportMens sana in corpore sano (“a sound mind in a sound body”)

• a medium of self- or life-fulfillment• excess strength and the root of creative living• play• an aesthetic phenomenon• ethical training• a model of an “achieving society”• a reaction compensating for and adjusting to the conditions of

living in a world of industrial labor• a sign-world• a safety-value for aggression, instinctive reaction for the

preservation of the race, and discharge through appetency• a means in the class struggle of increasing production and

overcoming alienation• symbolized father-son conflict and substitute narcissistic

satisfaction

For further development of these ideas, see Philosophies of Sport.