-athon

a suffix extracted from marathon, occurring as the final element in compounds which have the general sense “an event, as a sale or contest, drawn out to unusual length, often until a prearranged goal, as the contribution of a certain amount of money, is reached”: walkathon; readathon.

Nearby words

Also -a-thon, -thon.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for thon

The present Mrs. Thomas, who has been his wife for five-and-twenty-years, he always speaks of as “Thon widdy wumman.”
Humours of Irish Life|Various
Autochthon, aw-tok′thon, n. one of the primitive inhabitants of a country: an aboriginal:—pl.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various
The thon is the most unfishlike fish that one ever cast eyes upon.
Rambles on the Riviera|Francis Miltoun
Dear mistress, thon's a settled wee fellow, thon McGregor: he's the quare wise guide for we'er ain wichel.
The Argosy|Various

Maybe its from thon McAlenan fellow that owes me two pound for the heifer.
The Drone|Rutherford Mayne

British Dictionary definitions for thon

thon

/ (ðɒn) /

determiner

a Scot word for yon

Word Origin for thon

C19: of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for thon

-athon

also -thon, word-forming element denoting prolonged activity and usually some measure of endurance, abstracted from marathon. E.g. walkathon (1931), skatathon (1933); talkathon (1948); telethon (1949).