gym

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dʒɪm/^[1]

Etymology

It is a shortening of gymnasium,^[2][3][4] and also of gymnastics.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A gymnasium: 1871, in American student slang.^[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

As a school course in physical education it is recorded in the American Heritage Dictionary,^[6] and the gym rat, someone who often goes to a gym, is North American.^[5] The British gymslip is a schoolgirl's sleeveless tunic.^[5]

Timeline

• 1871 – short for gymnasium.^[2][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A room or building with equipment for physical exercise; a gymnasium.
2. Physical education as a school subject.
3. gymnastics.

Word family

• gym shoe
• jungle gym

Related words

• gymnasium
• gymnast
• gymnastics

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin