gymnasium1
[jim-ney-zee-uh m]
- a building or room designed and equipped for indoor sports, exercise, or physical education.
- a place where Greek youths met for exercise and discussion.
Origin of gymnasium1
1590–1600; < Latin: a public school for gymnastics < Greek gymnásion gymnastic school (derivative of gymnázein to train in the nude
gymnasium2
[gim-nah-zee-uh m]
- (often initial capital letter) (in continental Europe, especially Germany) a classical school preparatory to the universities.
Origin of gymnasium2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for gymnasium
Contemporary Examples
They stormed the gymnasium by land one sunny spring day in 1904.
Two parallel fences tipped with barbed wire formed a narrow corridor into the gymnasium.
The dining hall, it seemed, had been put to more use than the gymnasium.
“This is not a gymnasium or spectator sport,” Ingram warned.
He once ran naked through the gymnasium during a basketball game.
Wisconsin Spa Shooting Brings Back Painful Memories for the Moms of Mass KillersWinston Ross
October 25, 2012
Historical Examples
So they left the river and passed the gymnasium and the gate.
Buried Cities, Part 2Jennie Hall
The temple and walls and gymnasium were all of stone and looked as though they had been there forever.
Buried Cities, Part 2Jennie Hall
He heard his wonderful brother talk for hours of the life in the gymnasium.
Buried Cities, Part 2Jennie Hall
The soldier tried to get up to me by means of the trapeze and the gymnasium rope.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
She and the other teachers were seated on the raised platform at the end of the gymnasium.
The Green Satin GownLaura E. Richards
gymnasium
- a large room or hall equipped with bars, weights, ropes, etc, for games or physical training
- (in various European countries) a secondary school that prepares pupils for university
Word Origin
C16: from Latin: school for gymnastics, from Greek gumnasion, from gumnazein to exercise naked, from gumnos naked
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for 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" (see naked). Introduced to German 15c. as a name for "high school" (more or less paralleling a sense in Latin); in English it has remained purely athletic.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper