Gymnasium (school)

Gymnasium (and variations of the word; pl. gymnasia^[1]) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term preparatory high school or the British term grammar school. Before the 20th century, the gymnasium system was a widespread feature of educational systems throughout many European countries.

The word γυμνάσιον (gumnásion), from Greek γυμνός (gumnós) 'naked' or 'nude', was first used in Ancient Greece, in the sense of a place for both physical and intellectual education of young men. The latter meaning of a place of intellectual education persisted in many European languages (including Albanian, Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Greek, German, Hungarian, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak and Slovenian), whereas in other languages, like English (gymnasium, gym) and Spanish (gimnasio), the former meaning of a place for physical education was retained.