What does gladiator mean?

Definitions for gladiator
ˈglæd iˌeɪ tərglad·i·a·tor

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word gladiator.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. gladiatornoun

    (ancient Rome) a professional combatant or a captive who entertained the public by engaging in mortal combat

  2. prizefighter, gladiatornoun

    a professional boxer

Wiktionary

  1. gladiatornoun

    (in ancient Rome) a person (professional or slave) who entertained the public by engaging in mortal combat with another, or with a wild animal

  2. gladiatornoun

    a disputant in a public controversy or debate

  3. gladiatornoun

    a professional boxer

  4. Etymology: From gladiator, from gladius.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Gladiatornoun

    A swordplayer; a prizefighter.

    Etymology: Latin; gladiateur, Fr.

    Then whilst his foe each gladiator foils,
    The atheist, looking on, enjoys the spoils. John Denham.

    Besides, in gratitude for such high matters,
    Know I have vow’d two hundred gladiators. John Dryden, Pers.

Wikipedia

  1. Gladiator

    A gladiator (Latin: gladiator, "swordsman", from gladius, "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death. Irrespective of their origin, gladiators offered spectators an example of Rome's martial ethics and, in fighting or dying well, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim. They were celebrated in high and low art, and their value as entertainers was commemorated in precious and commonplace objects throughout the Roman world. The origin of gladiatorial combat is open to debate. There is evidence of it in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, and thereafter it rapidly became an essential feature of politics and social life in the Roman world. Its popularity led to its use in ever more lavish and costly games. The gladiator games lasted for nearly a thousand years, reaching their peak between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Christians disapproved of the games because they involved idolatrous pagan rituals, and the popularity of gladatorial contests declined in the fifth century, leading to their disappearance.

ChatGPT

  1. gladiator

    A gladiator is typically defined as a man in ancient Rome who was trained to fight against other men or wild animals as a form of public entertainment. They fought in a large arena called a Colosseum in front of a crowd of spectators. Some were slaves or prisoners of war who were forced to fight, while others were free men who chose to compete for money and fame. Nowadays, the term can also refer to anyone who competes in a tough, fierce competition or battle.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Gladiatornoun

    originally, a swordplayer; hence, one who fought with weapons in public, either on the occasion of a funeral ceremony, or in the arena, for public amusement

  2. Gladiatornoun

    one who engages in any fierce combat or controversy

  3. Etymology: [L., fr. gladius sword. See Glaive.]

Wikidata

  1. Gladiator

    A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death. Irrespective of their origin, gladiators offered spectators an example of Rome's martial ethics and, in fighting or dying well, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim. They were celebrated in high and low art, and their value as entertainers was commemorated in precious and commonplace objects throughout the Roman world. The origin of gladiatorial combat is open to debate. There is evidence of it in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BCE, and thereafter it rapidly became an essential feature of politics and social life in the Roman world. Its popularity led to its use in ever more lavish and costly games. The games reached their peak between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE, and they finally declined during the early 5th century after the adoption of Christianity as state church of the Roman Empire in 380, although beast hunts continued into the 6th century.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Gladiator

    glad′i-ā-tor, n. in ancient Rome, a professional combatant with men or beasts in the arena.—adjs. Glad′iāte, sword-shaped; Gladiatō′rial, Gladiā′tory, Gladiatō′rian.—ns. Glad′iatorship; Glā′dius, the cuttle-bone or pen of a cuttle-fish. [L., a swordsman—gladius, a sword.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Gladiator

    one who fought in the arena at Rome with men or beasts for the amusement of the people, originally in connection with funeral games, under the belief, it is said, that the spirits of the dead were appeased at the sight of blood; exhibitions of the kind were common under the emperors, and held on high occasions; if the gladiator was wounded in the contest, the spectators decided whether he was to live or die by, in the former case, turning their thumbs downwards, and in the latter turning them upwards.

Suggested Resources

  1. gladiator

    Song lyrics by gladiator -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by gladiator on the Lyrics.com website.

Etymology and Origins

  1. Gladiator

    From the Latin gladius, a sword. A slave trained to defend himself with a short sword in the mortal combats of the Roman arena for the amusement of the Emperors and the populace.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of gladiator in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of gladiator in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of gladiator in a Sentence

  1. Daria Abramowicz:

    There is this stereotype that an athlete is a kind of gladiator, a kind of hero, that they are comfortable being out of their comfort zones. And it makes it pretty much impossible for athletes not to be OK.

  2. Armstrong Williams:

    The media frequently wants to goad people into wars, into gladiator fights, you know. ... And I'm certainly not going to get into that.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

gladiator#10000#22844#100000

Translations for gladiator

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"gladiator." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/gladiator>.

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    (music) a curved line spanning notes that are to be played legato
    A congius
    B macron
    C slur
    D larceny

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