Meanings
noungymnasium (plural gymnasia or gymnasiums)
plural gymnasia · plural gymnasiums
- formalA large room or building for indoor sports.
[I]t is well understood that the building for the gymnasium will be erected on lots now belonging to the College, lying in High-street, immediately in the rear of the Library.
1859 July 28, W. G., “Yale College Commencement. One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Anniversary. […]”, in The New-York Times, volume VIII, number 2452, New York, N.Y., published 30 July 1859, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3, column 2Synonyms: gym
- A type of secondary school in some European countries which typically prepares students for university.
Near-synonyms: grammar school, prep school
Synonyms: grammar school, prep school
- historicalA public place or building where Ancient Greek youths took exercise, with running and wrestling grounds, baths, and halls for conversation.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA large room or building for indoor sports.
Similar
nounA type of secondary school in some European countries which typically prepares students for university.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nouna school for students intermediate between elementary school and college; usually grades 9 to 12
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekγυμνάσιον“exercise, school”
- Latingymnasium
- Englishgymnasium
From Latin gymnasium, from Ancient Greek γυμνάσιον (gumnásion, “exercise, school”), from γυμνός (gumnós, “naked”), because Greek athletes trained naked.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek γυμνάσιον
- γυμνάσιον (gumnásion)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Basque gimnasio
- gimnasioplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Bulgarian гимна́зия, гимнасти́чески сало́н
- гимна́зия (gimnázija)type of school
- гимнасти́чески сало́н (gimnastíčeski salón)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Catalan gimnàs, institut
- gimnàstype of school
- instituttype of school
- gimnàsplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Chinese Cantonese 健身室, gym房
- 健身室place for indoor sports — see also gym
- gym房 (zim¹ fong²)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Chinese Mandarin 健身房
- 健身房 (jiànshēnfáng)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Czech gymnázium, tělocvična
- gymnáziumtype of school
- tělocvičnaplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Danish gymnasium
- gymnasiumtype of school
Dutch turnzaal, gymnastiekzaal
- turnzaalplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- gymnastiekzaalplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- gymzaalplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Esperanto gimnazio, gimnastikejo
- gimnaziotype of school
- gimnastikejoplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Estonian gümnaasium
- gümnaasiumtype of school
Finnish lukio, liikuntasali
- lukiotype of school
- liikuntasaliplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- kuntosaliplace for indoor sports — see also gym
French lycée, gymnase
- lycéetype of school
- gymnasetype of school
- gymnaseplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- salle de gymnastiqueplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- salle de sportplace for indoor sports — see also gym
German Gymnasium, Sporthalle
- Gymnasiumtype of school
- Sporthalleplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- Turnhalleplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- Gymnastikraumplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- Fitnessstudioplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- Muckibudeplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Greek γυμνάσιο, λύκειο
- γυμνάσιο (gymnásio)type of school
- λύκειο (lýkeio)type of school
- γυμναστήριο (gymnastírio)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Hungarian gimnázium, tornaterem
- gimnáziumtype of school
- tornateremplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- tornacsarnokplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Icelandic menntaskóli, framhaldsskóli
- menntaskólitype of school
- framhaldsskólitype of school
- íþróttahúsplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- leikfimisalurplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Indonesian gimnasium, gimnasium
- gimnasiumtype of school
- gimnasiumplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Irish giomnáisiam
- giomnáisiamplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Italian ginnasio, Liceo Classico
- ginnasiotype of school
- Liceo Classicotype of school
- palestraplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Japanese 体育館
- 体育館 (taiikukan)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Korean 체육관
- 체육관 (cheyukgwan)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Lithuanian gimnazija
- gimnazijatype of school
Malay gimnasium
- gimnasiumplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Māori whare whakapakari, whare whakapakari tinana
- whare whakapakariplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- whare whakapakari tinanaplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- whare korikoriplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Norwegian Bokmål gymnastikksal, gymsal
- gymnastikksalplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- gymsalplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- sportshallplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Polish gimnazjum, siłownia
- gimnazjumtype of school
- siłowniaplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- sala gimnastycznaplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Portuguese ginásio, ginásio
- ginásiotype of school
- ginásioplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- academiaplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Romanian gimnaziu, sală de gimnastică
- gimnaziutype of school
- sală de gimnasticăplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- hală de gimnasticăplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Russian гимна́зия, гимнасти́ческий зал
- гимна́зия (gimnázija)type of school
- гимнасти́ческий зал (gimnastíčeskij zal)place for indoor sports — see also gym
- спортза́л (sportzál)place for indoor sports — see also gym
- джим (džim)place for indoor sports — see also gym
- тренажёрный зал (trenažórnyj zal)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Scottish Gaelic ionad-cleasachd
- ionad-cleasachdplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Slovak telocvičňa
- telocvičňaplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Spanish bachillerato, instituto
- bachilleratotype of school
- institutotype of school
- gimnasioplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Swedish gymnasium, gymnastiksal
- gymnasiumtype of school
- gymnastiksalplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- sporthallplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Turkish lise, spor salonu
- lisetype of school
- spor salonuplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- jimnastik salonuplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Ukrainian гімна́зія, гімнасти́чний зал
- гімна́зія (himnázija)type of school
- гімнасти́чний зал (himnastýčnyj zal)place for indoor sports — see also gym
- спортза́л (sportzál)place for indoor sports — see also gym
- тренаже́рний зал (trenažérnyj zal)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Urdu وَرْزِش گاہ, جِم
- وَرْزِش گاہ (varziś gāh)place for indoor sports — see also gym
- جِم (jim)place for indoor sports — see also gym
- وَرْزِش خانَہ (varziś xāna)place for indoor sports — see also gym
- جِم خانَہ (jim xāna)place for indoor sports — see also gym
Vietnamese thể dục, gym
- thể dụcplace for indoor sports — see also gym
- gymplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Welsh campfa
- campfaplace for indoor sports — see also gym
Yiddish גימנאַזיע
- גימנאַזיע (gimnazye)type of school
Cite this entry
APA
gymnasium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gymnasium
MLA
“gymnasium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gymnasium. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gymnasium,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gymnasium.
Source: gymnasium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.