olympiad

noun

1. (alt-of)Alternative letter-case form of Olympiad.

   “The reckoning by olympiads, or any other fixed æra, was not yet in uſe among the Greeks. The Arundelian marbles were compoſed ſixty years after the death of Alexander the Great, and yet mention not the olympiads, nor any ſtanding æra, but reckon backward from the time then preſent. In the next olympiad, Timæus Siculus wrote a hiſtory down to his own times, according to the olympiads.”

   “[N]ot Hellas can unroll / Through her olympiads two such names, though one / Of hers be mighty;—and is this the whole / Of such men's destiny beneath the sun?”

   “The olympiads, or quadrennial athletic meetings of ancient Greece, were held in such national renown, that they served as historical epochs for the chronological establishment of events. […] The victor in each race overcame the opponents who contested with him shoulder to shoulder; but there could be no means to determining whether the victor of a given event in one olympiad excelled the victor in other olympiads.”

2. A four-year period, particularly (historical) those based on Hippias's computations of the ancient Olympic Games which placed Coroebus's footrace victory in 776 BCE and (sports) those based on the modern Summer Olympic Games first held in 1896.

   “Ancient sources variously dated the founding of Rome to the 38th year before the first Olympiad, the third or fourth year of the sixth Olympiad, the first year of the seventh or eighth Olympiad, or the fourth year of the 12th Olympiad.”

   “Now was bright Hero weary of the day, Thought an Olympiad in Leanders ſtay.”

   “Olympiad. 42. about the yeare of Rome 142. ſhee [the planet Venus] is bigger then all the other ſtarres, and ſo cleare that (ſome-times) her beames make a ſhadowe.”

3. (proscribed, sometimes)Synonym of Olympic Games: an instance of the ancient or modern Olympic Games.

   “Victors at the ancient Olympiads only won an olive wreath but were usually freed from paying taxes for the remainder of their life, but modern Olympians have frequently needed to pay taxes on the market value of their gold, silver, or bronze medals.”

   “It was their [the priests of Jupiter Olympius's] Buſineſs, alſo not only to regiſter the Names of the Victors in the ſeveral Games, with other Matters relating to them, but alſo whatever occurr'd remarkable, during the Intervals between the Celebration of every Olympiad.”

   “Strabo […] makes Corœbus the firſt Victor at the firſt Olympiad of Iphitus; who, he ſaies, was the Reſtorer of them. This Olympiad was in the Year before Chriſt 776.”

   “The noble and free citizens of Epidaphne being, as they declare, well satisfied of the faith, valor, wisdom, and divinity of their king, […] do think it no more than their duty to invest his brows (in addition to the poetic crown) with the wreath of victory in the foot race—a wreath which it is evident he must obtain at the celebration of the next Olympiad, and which, therefore, they now give him in advance.”

   “After the distribution of the prizes, the athletes formed for the traditional procession around the Stadion. Louës [i.e., Spyridon Louis], the victor of Marathon, came first, bearing the Greek flag; then the Americans, the Hungarians, the French, the Germans. […] The king announced that the first Olympiad was at an end, and left the Stadion, the band playing the Greek national hymn, and the crowd cheering.”

4. (broadly)A competition aspiring to the importance of the Olympic Games or considered similar to them, especially one occurring at 4-year intervals, representing a national or international range of amateur student rather than professional adult competition, and/or requiring the highest level of ability in the field for success.

   “the International Mathematical Olympiad... the Science Olympiad... the International Science Olympiads... the Women's Chess Olympiad...”

   “The Junior Olympiad track and field meet was a major special event with 276 entrants.”

   “[…] Kent Howerton led dominance of the initial Motorcycle Olympiad by AMA professional moto-crossers. […] The fans dug it, the bike press agreed, and the Second Annual Motorcycle Olympiad will be held September 16–17 at Saddleback Park in Orange, California. More on the Olympiad in future issues.”

   “The Prize distribution ceremony of the First National Science Olympiad was held at National Museum Auditorium, New Delhi on October 18. […] The Second National Science Olympiad will be conducted on 28th January 2000.”