Gymnasium

See also: gymnasium

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gymnasium, from Ancient Greek γυμνάσιον (gumnásion, “exercise, school”), from γυμνός (gumnós, “naked”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʏmˈnaːziʊm/

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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Noun

Gymnasium n (strong, genitive Gymnasiums or Gymnasium, plural Gymnasien)

1. grammar school (UK), prep school (US) (school used to prepare students for university)

   Synonym: (colloquial) Gymi

   Coordinate terms: Grundschule, Hauptschule, Realschule

   das Gymnasium absolvieren ― to complete a grammar school education

   • 1725, Gottfried Polycarpus Müller, chapter 3, in Abriß Der Schul-Studien, und desjenigen, so bishero Auf dem Zittauischen Gymnasio præstiret worden‎^[1], Zittau, page 32:

     So weit gehet das jetzige Vorhaben, welches auf keine ander Ursachen gegründet ist, als auf die Erbauung der in unserm Gymnasio studirenden Jugend.

     Thus far goes the current undertaking, founded on no cause but the uplifting of the youth studying in our grammar school.

Declension

Declension of Gymnasium [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Gymnasium	die	Gymnasien
genitive	eines	des	Gymnasiums, Gymnasium	der	Gymnasien
dative	einem	dem	Gymnasium	den	Gymnasien
accusative	ein	das	Gymnasium	die	Gymnasien

Historically, alternatively declined like Latin gymnasium (with vocative and ablative).

Hypernyms

• weiterführende Schule

Related terms

• Gymnasiast
• gymnasial

Descendants

• → Czech: gymnázium
• → Hungarian: gimnázium
• → Lower Sorbian: gymnazium
• → Polish: gimnazjum
• → Slovak: gymnázium

Further reading

• “Gymnasium”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)
• “Gymnasium” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Gymnasium” in Duden online
• Gymnasium on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Γυμνάσιον (Gumnásion, diminutive of Γυμνάς (Gumnás)).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɡymˈna.si.ũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒimˈnaː.s̬i.um]

Proper noun

Gymnasium f sg (genitive Gymnasiī); second declension

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek, character in the play Cistellaria of Plautus
   • c. 203 BCE, Plautus, Cistellaria 1.1.105:

     Sed tu, Gymnasium mea […]

     But you, my Gymnasium

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter), singular only.

	singular
nominative	Gymnasium
genitive	Gymnasiī
dative	Gymnasiō
accusative	Gymnasium
ablative	Gymnasiō
vocative	Gymnasium

References

• “Gymnasium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Gymnasium”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.