physical education
noun
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The Importance (Linguistic and Otherwise) of Physical Education
Physical education has existed since ancient times, but it wasn’t until several hundred years ago that the term itself (abbreviated as phys ed or PE) came into being. Its earliest known use comes, oddly enough, from a 1748 book titled Critical Reflections on Poetry, Painting, and Music: “Cannot some years prove more favorable than others to the physical education of children. . . ?” A few decades after these words were published, gymnasiums opened across Europe, especially in Germany, where gymnastics associations (or turnvereins) fostered physical health as well as civic involvement and cultural enrichment. Thanks in part to immigration, these clubs, and European enthusiasm for athletics in general, spread to the U.S. During the 19th century, American educators adopted European methods of teaching physical training, and both the word physical education and the phenomenon it represents became well established in this country.
Examples of physical education in a Sentence
Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025
The new framework for the standards were adopted from Massachusetts' framework for health and physical education, according to a draft posted online by MDE.
—Lily Altavena, Freep.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Reintroducing girls’ physical education in 2017 normalized movement for half the population and built a pipeline of coaches, women’s sports leagues, and female athletes.
—Ali Shihabi, Time, 8 Sep. 2025
The exercise system was designed in the 1920s by Joseph Pilates, a German physical education instructor.
—Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for physical education
Cite this Entry
“Physical education.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/physical%20education. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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