Gymnasium

How to spell gymnasium

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce gymnasium

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does gymnasium mean?

1. nounA large room or building equipped for physical exercise and indoor sports.

Gymnasium in a sentence

• The school gymnasium was set up for the basketball tournament.

• After work she heads straight to the gymnasium to lift weights.

Where does gymnasium come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes from the ancient Greek gymnasion, a public place where men trained in athletics. It was built on the verb gymnazein, meaning 'to exercise or train,' which in turn traces back to gymnos, meaning 'naked,' because Greek athletes traditionally trained and competed without clothing. Latin borrowed the Greek term as gymnasium and gave it the place-name ending '-ium,' the same suffix seen in words like 'stadium' and 'auditorium.' English adopted the Latin form in the 1500s, keeping the awkward but original 'gymn-' opening, which is exactly the part that trips writers up, since the silent flow of 'gym' hides the unexpected 'n' before the 'asium.' In several European countries the same word travelled in a different direction and came to mean an academic secondary school, a sense still used in German and other languages today.

How the word is built

• gymnas- (from Greek gymnazein: to train or exercise)
• -ium (Latin place suffix)