discus

noun

dis·​cus ˈdi-skəs 

plural discuses

: a heavy disk (as of wood or plastic) that is thicker in the center than at the perimeter and that is hurled for distance as a track-and-field event

also : the event

Illustration of discus

Examples of discus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Standouts for the Minutewomen included Aubrey Deardorf, who won the triple jump, Amelia Whorton, who claimed victory in the 800 meters and mile run and Ainsley Cuthbertson, who won the shot put and discus throw. —Jack Murray, Boston Herald, 1 June 2026

Jaslene Massey of Aliso Niguel set a state record in the girls discus. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026

Aliso Niguel senior Jaslene Massey is the favorite in the girls shot put and discus. —Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 28 May 2026

The letter from McCuskey’s office noted the biological male finished in fourth place in the Class AAA women’s discus event and won the Class AAA state championship in women’s shot put. —Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 27 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin discus, borrowed from Greek dískos "discus," in Late Greek also "dish, round mirror, the sun's disk, gong," of uncertain origin

Note: For English loanwords going back to dískos see dais, desk, dish entry 1, and disk entry 1. Greek dískos is generally said to be a derivative of the verb dikeîn "to throw, cast, fling" (aorist only), presumably as a simplification of *dikskos, with a suffix -sk-. P. Chantraine is certain of this in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, but less confident in La formation des noms en grec ancien, where this etymology is followed by a question mark (p. 405). Clearly, if such a suffix existed in Greek, the evidence is meager (and the productivity of the diminutive suffix -isko- is not relevant). R. Beekes (Etymological Dictionary of Greek) suggests that the earlier form was *diks-, which together with dikeîn is of non-Indo-European substratal origin, citing Edzard Furnée, Die wichtigsten konsonantischen Erscheinungen des Vorgriechischen (Mouton, 1972), p. 297.

First Known Use

1581, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing discus

• the discus

Rhymes for discus

• viscous
• hibiscus
• meniscus

Kids Definition

discus

noun

dis·​cus ˈdis-kəs 

plural discuses

: a heavy disk that is hurled for distance in a track-and-field event

also : the event

Medical Definition

discus

noun

dis·​cus ˈdis-kəs 

plural disci -ˌkī  -kē 

: any of various rounded and flattened anatomical structures