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Origin and history of gymnasium

gymnasium(n.)

1590s, "place of exercise," from Latin gymnasium "school for gymnastics," from Greek gymnasion "public place where athletic exercises are practiced; gymnastics school," in plural, "bodily exercises," from gymnazein "to exercise or train," literally or figuratively, literally "to train naked," from gymnos "naked," from a metathesis of PIE *nogw-mo-, suffixed form of *nogw- "naked" (see naked).

A feature of all ancient Greek communities, at first it was merely an open space, later with extensive facilities and including training for the mind as well as the body. Hence its use in German from 15c. as a name for "high school" (more or less paralleling a sense also in Latin); in English it has remained purely athletic. For the "continental high school sense," English in 19c. sometimes used gymnastical as an adjective, gymnasiast for a student.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to gymnasium

naked(adj.)

Old English nacod "nude, unclothed, bare; empty," also "not fully clothed" (a sense still used in 18c.), from Proto-Germanic *nakwadaz (source also of Old Frisian nakad, Middle Dutch naket, Dutch naakt, Old High German nackot, German nackt, Old Norse nökkviðr, Old Swedish nakuþer, Gothic naqaþs "naked"), from PIE root *nogw- "naked" (source also of Sanskrit nagna, Hittite nekumant-, Old Persian *nagna-, Greek gymnos, Latin nudus, Lithuanian nuogas, Old Church Slavonic nagu-, Russian nagoi, Old Irish nocht, Welsh noeth "bare, naked").

Of things, "without the usual or customary covering" (of a sword, etc.), from Old English. Applied to qualities, actions, etc., "mere, pure, open to view, unconcealed," from c. 1200; phrase the naked truth is from early 15c. Phrase naked as a jaybird (1943) was earlier naked as a robin (1879, in a Shropshire context); Middle English had naked as a worm (mid-14c.), naked as a needle (late 14c.). Naked eye "the eye unassisted by any instrument" is from 1660s, an unnecessary term before telescopes and microscopes.

gym(n.)

short for gymnasium, 1871, U.S. student slang.

gymnastic(adj.)

1570s, "pertaining to athletic exercise," from Latin gymnasticus, from Greek gymnastikos "fond of or skilled in bodily exercise," from gymnazein "to exercise or train" (see gymnasium).

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    lyceum
    1580s, Latin form of Greek lykeion, name of a grove or garden with covered walks in the eastern suburb of ancient Athens, also the site of an athletic facility. Aristotle taught there. The name is from the neuter of Lykeios, an epithet of Apollo under which he had a temple nearby
    palestra
    c. 1400, palestre, "ancient Greek gymnasium," from Old French palestre (12c.) and directly from Latin palaestra, from Greek...palaistra "gymnasium, public place for exercise under official direction," originally "wrestling school," from palaiein...
    body-builder
    Roberts, superintendent of the Boston Y.M.C.A. gymnasium. See body (n.) + build (v.)....
    cynic
    But more likely it is from Kynosarge "The Gray Dog," the name of the gymnasium outside ancient Athens (for the use of those...Antisthenes, a crusty type who hated students, emphasized self-knowledge, discipline, and restraint, and held forth at a gymnasium...
    Academe
    sciences were taught, 1580s, from phrase groves of Academe (translating Horace's silvas Academi), the name of the public gymnasium...
    medicine
    dictionary of terms for his prescription department in physical culture is taught in every first-class conducted Y.M.C.A. gymnasium...
    school
    [place of instruction] Middle English scole, from Old English scol, "institution for instruction," from Latin schola "meeting place for teachers and students, place of instruction;" also "learned conversation, debate; lecture; disciples of a teacher, body of followers, sect," als
    high
    Old English heh (Anglian), heah (West Saxon) "of great height, tall, conspicuously elevated; lofty, exalted, high-class," from Proto-Germanic *hauha- (source also of Old Saxon hoh, Old Norse har, Danish høi, Swedish hög, Old Frisian hach, Dutch hoog, Old High German hoh, German h
    academy
    mid-15c., Achademie, "the classical Academy," properly the name of the public garden where Plato taught his school, from Old French (Modern French Académie) and directly from Latin Academia, from Greek Akadēmeia "The Academy; the grove of Akadēmos," a legendary Athenian of the Tr
    secondary
    late 14c., secondarie, "belonging to the second class; not chief or principal; second in importance or authority; of a lesser quality or worth; subordinate to something else, depending upon the action of primary qualities," from Old French secondaire and directly from Latin secun

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