Olympian adj.

high mountain in Thessaly, in Greek mythology the abode of the twelve greater gods, from Greek Olympos, a name of unknown origin. The name was given to several mountains and mountain ranges in Greece and the Near East. Beekes speculates that it originally meant "mountain" and is "without a doubt Pre-Greek."

variant of suffix -an (q.v.), with connective -i-. From Latin -ianus, in which the -i- originally was from the stem of the word being attached but later came to be felt as connective. In Middle English frequently it was -ien, via French.

c. 1600, "of or in reference to Mount Olympos," the mountain in Thessaly, believed to be the home of the greater Greek gods. Also in reference to to Olympia (khōra), a town or district in Elis in ancient Greece with a famous temple of Zeus, where athletic contests in honor of Olympian Zeus were held 776 B.C.E. and every four years thereafter. It is from Greek Olympikos, from Olympos, which in both places is of unknown origin (see Olympus). The modern Olympic games are a revival, begun in 1896. Olympics, short for Olympic games, is from 1630s.