ÍÞRÓTT

f. accomplishment, feat, art, skill (vel búinn at íþróttum).

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f., also spelt iðrótt, prob. from ið- and þrótt or þróttr, power, qs. ið-þrótt; the long vowel seems due to absorption, analogous to Svíþjóð = Svið-þjóð; the rhyme, iþróttir … níu, Orkn. l. c., shews that the vowel was sounded long: [Dan. idræt; Swed. idrott; but not in Saxon nor Germ.]:—accomplishment, art, skill, in olden times esp. of athletic exercises, but also of literary skill; king Harold (in the verse in Mork. 15, íðróttir kann ek átta) counts eight íðróttir,—poetry, riding, swimming, sliding in snow-shoes, shooting, rowing, playing the harp, and versification; earl Rognvald (in the verse in Orkn. ch. 61) counts nine,—chess playing, Runes, ‘book,’ smíð, sliding on ‘skíð,’ shooting, rowing, playing the harp, and versification; cp. also the tale in Edda of Thor and Útgarða-Loki, where running a race, eating fast, drinking, lifting the cat, and wrestling are among íþróttir. In mod. usage the word is applied especially to the fine arts (painting, sculpture); kann ek þá íþrótt, at engi er hér sá inni er skjótara skal eta mat sinn en ek, Edda 31; vel búinn at íþróttum, Nj. 61; vel at sér görr um íþróttir, Eg. 111; hann lét Gunnar reyna ymsar íþróttir við menn sína, ok vóru þeir engir er né eina íþrótt hefði til jafns við hann, Nj. 46, Edda 31; nú sýnir Sigmundr íþrótt sína, Fær. 76; inna íþrótt, Edda 31; góð íþrótt. id.; með ágætri iðrótt, of music, Bs. i. 155; iðrótt sú er Grammatica heitir, 163; iðrótt þá er grammatica heitir, Clem. 33; af iðrótt þeirri er dialectica heitir, Al. 3.

COMPDS: íþróttalauss, íþróttamaðr.