Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

āthlēta, ae, com. (nom. athletes, Stat. S. 53, 222; acc. athletam, Plin. 7, 20, 19, § 83; v. Neue, Formenl. I. pp. 32, 593), = ἀθλητής, a wrestler, a prize-fighter, athlete, Cic. Sen. 9, 27; id. Or. 68, 228; id. Tusc. 2, 23, 56; 2, 17, 40; Nep. Epam. 2, 4; Liv. 39, 22 al.
Trop., one who, by exertion and practice, has acquired much skill in a thing, a champion, master (only ante- and post-class.): pecuarii athletae, Varr. R. R. 2, 1, 2: athletae comitiorum, id. ib. 3, 5 fin.