From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Olympic games \O*lym"pic games\, or Olympian games \O*lym"pi*an
games\ . (Greek Antiq.),
The greatest of the national festivals of the ancient Greeks,
consisting of athletic games and races, dedicated to Olympian
Zeus, celebrated once in four years at Olympia, and
continuing five days.
[1913 Webster] Olympic games
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Olympic games \O*lym"pic games\, or Olympics \O*lym"pics\
A modified revival of the ancient Olympian games, consisting
of international athletic games, races, etc., now held once
in four years, the first having been at Athens in 1896.
Note: There are now two sets of modern Olympic games, the
summer games and the winter games. Both had been held
every four years, in the same year, but in 1998 for the
first time the winter games began to be held two years
after the summer games, though each series is still
held only once every four years. The number and types
of sports contests held at the olympics has greatly
expanded from the original number.
[Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
Olympic Games
n 1: the modern revival of the ancient games held once every 4
years in a selected country [syn: {Olympic Games},
{Olympics}, {Olympiad}]
2: the ancient Panhellenic celebration at Olympia in honor of
Zeus; held every 4 years beginning in 776 BC [syn: {Olympian
Games}, {Olympic Games}]
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