What is "gladiator"

Gladiator \Glad"i*a`tor\, n. [L., fr. gladius sword. See Glaive.]

1. 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. One who engages in any fierce combat or controversy.

mid-15c., "Roman swordsman," from Latin gladiator, literally "swordsman," from gladius "sword," probably from Gaulish (compare Welsh cleddyf, Cornish clethe, Breton kleze "sword;" see claymore). Old Irish claideb is from Welsh.\n\nThe close connection with Celtic words for 'sword', together with the imperfect match of initial consonants, and the semantic field of weaponry, suggests that Latin borrowed a form *gladio- or *kladio- (a hypothetical variant of attested British Celtic\n*kladimo- 'sword') from [Proto-Celtic] or from a third language.

[de Vaan]

n. 1 (qualifier: 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 (label en by restriction) A male gladiator (qualifier: where a female gladiator is a gladiatrix). 3 (label en by extension) A disputant in a public controversy or debate. 4 A professional boxer.

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

2. a professional boxer [syn: prizefighter]

A gladiator (, "swordsman", from , "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. The games finally declined during the early 5th century after the adoption of Christianity as state church of the Roman Empire in 380, although beast hunts ( venationes) continued into the 6th century.

A gladiator was an armed combatant entertainer in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.

Gladiator(s) or The Gladiator(s) may also refer to:

Gladiator (Melvin Potter) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Potter was initially depicted as a supervillain and one of the first enemies of the superhero Daredevil. In civilian life, he is a costume-designer at the Spotlight Costume Shop in New York City. He eventually reformed and became one of the staunchest supporters of Daredevil.

Melvin Potter is portrayed by Matt Gerald in the Marvel Netflix series Daredevil as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Gladiator is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Gladiator, known in Japan as , was a arcade game developed by Allumer and published by Taito. It was followed by a sequel titled Blandia.

Gladiator is the original soundtrack of the 2000 film of the same name. The original score and songs were composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard and were released in 2000, titled Gladiator: Music From the Motion Picture. The Lyndhurst Orchestra performing the score was conducted by Gavin Greenaway.

The album won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and was also nominated for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Score ("Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music").

Gladiator is a 1992 American sports drama film directed by Rowdy Herrington, and starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., James Marshall, Brian Dennehy, and Robert Loggia. The film tells the story of two teenagers trapped in the world of illegal underground boxing. One is fighting to pay off gambling debts accumulated by his father. The second is fighting for the money to get out of the ghetto. While being exploited by a boxing promoter, the two teens become friends.

Gladiator is an American science fiction novel first published in 1930 and written by Philip Wylie. The story concerns a scientist who invents an "alkaline free-radical" serum to "improve" humankind by granting the proportionate strength of an ant and the leaping ability of the grasshopper. The scientist injects his pregnant wife with the serum and his son Hugo Danner is born with superhuman strength, speed, and bulletproof skin. Hugo spends much of the novel hiding his powers, rarely getting a chance to openly use them. The novel is widely assumed to have been an inspiration for Superman, though no confirmation exists that Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were influenced by it. The concept of a human having the proportional strength of an insect is very similar to the concept of Spider-Man having strength proportional to that of a spider.

A copy of the book can be seen on Hollis Mason's shelf in one panel of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, and in another Moore work Marvelman.

Gladiator is a 2000 British-American epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott, and starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed (in his final film role before his death), Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the fictional character, loyal Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, murders his father and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murders of his family and his emperor.

The film was released in the United States on May 5, 2000, and was a box office success, receiving generally positive reviews and being credited with rekindling interest in the historical epic. The film won multiple awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Crowe, and three other Oscars at the 73rd Academy Awards.

"Gladiator" is the 10th episode of the first season of the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Written by Robert Bielak and directed by Garth Maxwell, it first aired in the United States on March 20, 1995.

Gladiator Energy Drink is a lucha libre-themed line of energy drink sodas first released in México in 2008 by The Coca-Cola Company. This product is endorsed by lucha libre stars of Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre like Místico, Perro Aguayo, Jr., Último Guerrero and Dr. Wagner, Jr. In July of the same year, Gladiator Energy Drink is released in Dominican Republic and in 2009 is released in Brazil.

This sparkling drink was first introduced in Ukraine in 2009; One year after, the production line for Gladiator added the 0,5-litre PET bottle.

Gladiator is the soundtrack to the 1992 film, Gladiator. It was released on February 25, 1992 through Columbia Records and consisted of a blend of rock, hip hop, and pop music. The soundtrack failed to make it the Billboard charts, but Warrant's remake of " We Will Rock You" made it to 83 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title track was performed by the rap group 3rd Bass in what was the group's final appearance together.

"Gladiator" is a song by Australian recording artist Dami Im. It was written by Im, Johan Gustafson, Fredrik Häggstam and Sebastian Lundberg, and produced by the latter three under their production name Trinity. The song was released on 8 August 2014, as the second single from Im's third studio album Heart Beats. "Gladiator" is a mid-tempo pop ballad that explores the theme of female empowerment. According to its lyrics, Im sings about the need to make a man fall in love with her by fighting for his love "like a gladiator".

"Gladiator" received positive reviews from critics, who complimented the catchy production and Im's vocal delivery. They also predicted the song to be a commercial success and compared it to the work of Katy Perry. Upon its release, "Gladiator" debuted at number 11 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association for sales exceeding 35,000 copies. The accompanying music video was directed by Young Black Youth and features Im's character growing up and training to become a powerful evil-fighting gladiator. The video was well received by critics for its presentation. Im promoted "Gladiator" with performances on television and radio programs and at instore appearances.