discusn.
/ˈdɪskəs/, U.S. /ˈdɪskəs/ 1. Athletics.
a. A heavy thick-centred disc thrown in ancient and modern athletic sports, the object being to throw the disc as far as possible. Cf. quoit n. 2a.Discus throwing formed part of the ancient pentathlon (pentathlon n. 1) and has been an athletic field event at the modern Olympic Games since the first competition in 1896.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > athletics > [noun] > specific athletic sports other than running > throwing weight, shot, or ball > weight, shot, or discus
stonec1300
dishc1384
discus1581
disc1665
putting stone1716
weight1865
shot1881
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxvii. 106 The quayting Discus, the barlike Halteres, the swinging Petawre, and such old memorandums,..are to auncient and to farre worne from the vse of our youth.
1614 T. Godwin Romanæ Historiæ Anthologia ii. iii. ii. 68 Casting or hurling the great stone called discus; though sometimes this discus was made of yron or brasse.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xvii. 411/2 Zephyrus grew angry, and with a sudden blast of Wind, turned the Discus or Quoit, upon the youths Head, and killed him.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. viii. 137 From Elatreus' strong arm the Discus flies.
1795 Sporting Mag. Dec. 152/2 The discus was hurled in the manner of a bowl.
1849 H. W. Longfellow Kavanagh xxx. 183 I am afraid that..the untoward winds will blow the discus of the god against my forehead, and strike me dead with it, as they did Hyacinth of old.
1872 Bell's Life in London 9 Nov. 10/1 Throwing was also first class, W. A. Burgess succeeding in casting the ‘discus’ 112ft 2in.
1892 P. Gardner Chap. Greek Hist. ix. 295 The discus..weighed about twelve pounds. It was round and flat, and a skilful athlete..would sometimes hurl it more than a hundred feet.
1911 Times 24 July 14/7 Throwing the Discus in the free style was another unfamiliar item in Saturday's programme.
1963 G. H. Chase & C. C. Vermeule Greek, Etruscan & Rom. Art (rev. ed.) 92 Behind the trainer is the pick for loosening the earth, and a bag for a discus.
2012 Alcalde (Univ. Texas) May–June 20/2 He could toss a discus 140 feet and launch a shot almost 48 feet.
b. The game or sport of throwing such a disc.
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1633 W. Prynne Histrio-mastix i. 549 The game of Discus called them forth.
1656 A. Cowley Praise of Pindar in Pindaric Odes iii. (note) The chief Exercises there were Running, Leaping, Wrestling, the Discus, which was the casting of a great round Stone, or Ball, made of Iron or Brass.
1738 E. Chambers Cycl. (ed. 2) at Athletics Several dissertations on the ancient Dancing, Spheristics, Athletics, Wrestling, Pugillate, Discus, &c.
1772 R. Warner tr. Plautus Apparition i. ii, in B. Thornton et al. tr. Plautus Comedies III. 196 At the discus, javelin, ball, at wrestling, In horsemanship, in racing, or in arms.
1839 Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Jrnl. 29 June 41/2 Their athletic exercises, such as the foot race, the wrestle, or the discus, were all performed without the least attire.
1899 Michigan Alumnus June 381/2 Michigan had an easy time in the broad jump and pole vault, and Wisconsin in the discus and mile-walk.
1902 N.Y. Times 5 Oct. 17/5 The discus was the only field event but there were eight track events.
1960 Greece & Rome 7 8 Phaÿllos had a great reputation for the discus and the jump.
1974 Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald 18 Apr. c2/5 Charles Mathis..set a new track record at Northwestern with a 149'6″ in the discus.
2002 Southland (N.Z.) Times (Nexis) 14 Aug. 4 Winning 12 gold medals in shot put, discus and javelin at six world paraplegic games.
2. † a. Astronomy. = disc n. 2a. Obsolete.
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the world > the universe > heavenly body > [noun] > disc
discus1659
disc1665
1659 H. More Immortality of Soul i. xiv. 103 The Earth must appear considerably less to him then the Moon does to us, because the Sun appears to us less then the Moon. It were easy to demonstrate that her discus would appear to the Sun near thirty, nay sixty times less then the Moon does to us.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1664 (1955) III. 384 I found [Mr. Boyle] with Dr. Wallis & Dr. Chr: Wren..with an inverted Tube or Telescope observing the Discus of the Sunn for the passing of ☿ [i.e. Mercury] that day before the Sunn.
1775 C. Hutton Diarian Misc. I. 9 The shadow begins to enter the discus of the whole earth almost in the mid way between the Hesperiden and Caribee islands.
b. Botany. = disc n. 7.
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the world > plants > part of plant > part defined by form or function > [noun] > parts of specific shape
finger?a1425
saucer1578
umbrella1658
neck1673
discus1687
cord1776
wing1776
starlet1787
ribbon1854
rat-tail1871
peltation1881
rod1884
1687 Philos. Trans. 1686–7 (Royal Soc.) 16 285 These are subdivided according to the Colours of the Barbulæ and Discus, and from the Figures the Flowers make.
1798 Crit. Rev. 24 557 The pileus [of the mushroom], distinguished by a barren discus, joins with the stalk.
1868 W. Rhind Hist. Veg. Kingdom (rev. ed.) liii. 591/2 There is no instance of the same analogy existing between the discus and petals of other plants.
1941 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 28 872/2 Each of the small aborted female flowers has two small subtending bracts... A discus is absent.
2005 Pakistan Jrnl. Bot. 37 770 Pileus,..red-brown discus on center.
3. Any of various objects having the shape of a disc; spec. (a) Classical History a thin circular plate of metal used as a platter or ceremonial shield; (b) Hinduism = chakra n. 2; (c) Roman History a concave disc forming the top of an oil lamp.
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society > faith > artefacts > symbol (general) > non-Christian symbols or images > [noun] > circle
discus1680
mandala1859
pi1871
chakra1891
the world > food and drink > food > setting table > table utensils > [noun] > table-vessels > dish or plate
disha700
scuttlec1050
trencherc1308
plattera1325
paten?1340
esquele1371
skelec1400
plat1415
plate?c1450
skewel1567
trencher-plate1580
goggan1586
trench1602
table plate1669
mazarine1673
discus1680
wearing plate1683
silver plate1710
nappy1731
roundel1797
muffin1820
entrée dish1846
pinax1858
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > [noun] > lamp > parts of
sink1440
snuff1611
turret1626
discus1680
oxidator1853
chimney1857
flame-cap1893
heat filter1898
bracket-light-
1680 C. Blount tr. Philostratus Life Apollonius Tyaneus ii. 178 It is a certain Quoit or Discus made of silver.
1692 O. Walker Greek & Rom. Hist. i. vi. 75 In one hand a Torch lighted to represent the Everlasting fire, in the other a Discus or Sacrificing Platter.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Discus, a Dish or Platter for Meat..Also a round Consecrated Shield made to represent a Memorable Deed of some Hero of Antiquity, and hung up in a Temple of the Gods.
1726 J. Breval Remarks Several Parts Europe II. 17 It is a Discus of Silver weighing upwards of 34 Ounces, on which there is an Emperor represented.
1784 E. Stiles Diary 8 June in T. Jefferson Papers (1953) VII. 303 It consisted of a Plate or Discus of perhaps 15 Inc. Diam.
1805 Asiatick Researches 8 84 Bearing a conch, a discus, a club, a bow, and a sword, in her several hands.
1846 Friend 25 Apr. 243/2 [Roman domestic lamps] were very tall, and consisted of three..pieces—the foot, the shaft, and the discus or plate.
1850 J. Leitch tr. K. O. Müller Ancient Art (new ed.) §232 Isis, human, with cow horns and a discus between them.
1935 H. C. Gordon Sunwheel iv. 44 Vishnu, furious, cut off the demon's head at one stroke with a discus.
1989 Syria 66 94 Rounded lamps with decorated discus.
2000 T. Hall To Elephant Graveyard (2001) iii. 60 His trunk curled about his characteristic pot-belly, while in his four hands he held a shell, a discus, a club and a modaka.
4. More fully discus fish. Any of several Amazonian cichlids constituting the genus Symphysodon, which have deep laterally compressed bodies and a rounded outline, are typically brightly coloured, and are popular in tropical aquaria.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > family Cichlidae (cichlids) > member of (cichlid)
cichlid1914
mouth-breeder1927
discus1935
1935 N.Y. Times 19 Feb. 5/3 (advt.) South American Discus Fish..Half Price.
1974 H. W. Huizinga in I. Mawdesley-Thomas & E. Lionel Dis. Fish 115/1 A naturally infected, 13.0 cm long discus fish.
2001 J. Dawes Compl. Encyc. Freshwater Aquarium 25 Types [of fish] that can generate a reasonable return, such as discus or dwarf cichlids.
Compounds
discus throw n. Athletics the game or sport of throwing the discus; a throw of the discus.
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1896 Boston Daily Advertiser 4 July 8/2 It was an American..who won the discus throw at Athens not many weeks ago.
1914 J. Horner in P. Withington Bk. Athletics 200 The shot-put is a one-arm push with all the body behind it. The discus-throw is a one-arm side pull.
2003 J. Silvester Compl. Bk. Throws iv. 65 By 1912 the discus throw was contested, as it is today, from a 2.5-meter-diameter circle.
discus thrower n. Athletics a person who throws the discus; a competitor in the sport of discus throwing.
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1869 Illustr. London News 6 Mar. 239/1 The old discus-throwers immortalised by Greek sculpture.
1968 Listener 11 July 49/2 There have been a number of marriages..between hammer-throwers and female discus-throwers.
1995 R. M. Pyle Where Bigfoot Walks iv. 41 I had wrestler's knees, weight lifter's knuckles, and discus thrower's elbow.
discus throwing n. Athletics the game or sport of throwing the discus.
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1836 M. J. Chapman Greek Pastoral Poets 413 Hyacinthus was playing at discus-throwing with that god.
1896 Daily News 8 Sept. 5/2 At the forthcoming meeting of the Knickerbocker Athletic Club to be shortly held in New York, there will be a discus-throwing competition.
2010 E. Gordon & T. Lacey Really Useful Grandparents' Bk. (U.S. ed.) 161 Discus throwing requires strength, speed, technique—and a love of spinning!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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