Lyzeum

German

Alternative forms

• Lyceum (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin Lycēum, from Ancient Greek Λύκειον (Lúkeion). The use for a girls’ school may have been partly due to an inhibition to using the word Gymnasium with girls because of the underlying Ancient Greek γυμνός (gumnós, “naked”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lyˈtseː.ʊm/, /li-/

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio (Austria)

  (file)

Noun

Lyzeum n (strong, genitive Lyzeums, plural Lyzeen)

1. (archaic) grammar school for girls

   Synonym: Töchterschule

2. (obsolete) grammar school (for boys or in general)

   Synonym: Gymnasium

3. (obsolete) an honorific byname for a university
4. (archaic, Bavaria, Roman Catholicism) a type of theological and philosophical institutes (existing under this name until 1923)

Usage notes

• (grammar school): The distinction between Gymnasium (for boys) and Lyzeum (for girls) existed from the 19th century until circa 1950. The terms were equivalents of each other, though the educations were somewhat different as Lyzeen did not prepare for university. Today, therefore, Gymnasium is the general word and girls-only ones are called Mädchengymnasium.

Declension

Declension of Lyzeum [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Lyzeum	die	Lyzeen
genitive	eines	des	Lyzeums	der	Lyzeen
dative	einem	dem	Lyzeum	den	Lyzeen
accusative	ein	das	Lyzeum	die	Lyzeen

Derived terms

• von hinten Lyzeum, von vorne Museum

Further reading

• “Lyzeum” in Duden online
• “Lyzeum” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache