gymnasium

noun

gym·​na·​si·​um

sense 1

jim-ˈnā-zē-əm 

-zhəm;

sense 2 is usually

gim-ˈnä-zē-əm 

plural gymnasiums or gymnasia

sense 1

jim-ˈnā-zē-ə 

-zhə;

 sense 2 is usually  gim-ˈnä-zē-ə

1

a

: a large room used for various indoor sports (such as basketball or boxing) and usually equipped with gymnastic apparatus

b

: a building (as on a college campus) containing space and equipment for various indoor sports activities and usually including spectator accommodations, locker and shower rooms, offices, classrooms, and a swimming pool

2

[German, from Latin, school] : a European secondary school that prepares students for the university

Synonyms

• gym
• health club
• health spa
• spa

Example Sentences

since it was raining, the kids had recess in the gymnasium

Recent Examples on the Web

The school, which had 200 students above the school’s 300 capacity, received 24 new classrooms; the cafeteria, bathrooms and gymnasium were not included in the update, Culotta said at the late February board meeting. —Sabrina Leboeuf, Baltimore Sun, 22 Mar. 2023

Back in the days when Cass played home games in a snug gymnasium located on the first floor of the former eight-story building which housed CT from September 1922 through the end of the 2004-05 school year, Ogletree tried out for the junior varsity boys basketball team. —Scott Talley, Freep.com, 22 Jan. 2023

Students from 23 Chagrin Valley Conference schools put athletic rivalries aside for a day of collaboration and teamwork during the annual Chagrin Valley Leadership Conference, hosted Nov. 18 in the Beachwood High School gymnasium. —cleveland, 24 Nov. 2022

They had been moved to a nearby gymnasium for identification, which was just beginning by 4:30 a.m. local time. —Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2022

In the basketball gymnasium at Colony High, there is a blank football banner that hangs in hopes of one day having a championship winning season etched upon it. —Josh Reed, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Oct. 2022

Included in the facility will be a new gymnasium that will take up about 8,000 to 10,000 square feet. —al, 8 Aug. 2022

San Diego Unified has plans to renovate Perkins’ campus, including building a gymnasium, new classroom buildings and a larger staff parking lot, and to acquire land for a synthetic turf athletic field. —Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2023

The plan calls for new gymnasiums at six of the seven public high schools in the county. —Ben Thomas | [e-mail], al, 26 Jan. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Latin, exercise ground, school, from Greek gymnasion, from gymnazein to exercise naked, from gymnos naked — more at naked

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

gymnasium

noun

gym·​na·​si·​um jim-ˈnā-zē-əm  -zhəm 

plural gymnasiums or gymnasia

-zē-ə,

-zhə

: a room or building for sports activities

Etymology

from Latin gymnasium "exercise ground, school," from Greek gymnasion (same meaning), from gymnazein "to exercise naked," from gymnos "naked"