school English · revision 1775

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 899 (Alfred, Bede)|origins=ine-pro *segh-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /skuːl/^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|scole]], [[inh|ang|scōl|t=institution for instruction]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD) [[bor|la|schola|t=leisure for learning; lecture; school]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[grc|σχολή|tr=skholḗ|t=spare time, leisure; learned discussion; lecture place]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) originally “a holding back, a keeping clear”, from [[m|grc|σχεῖν|tr=skheîn|t=to get]] (compare [[m|grc|ἔχειν|tr=ékhein|t=to have, hold]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*segh-|t=to hold]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) In Middle English it was reinforced by [[fro|escole]].^(COED 2004)^(Hoad 1986) The Latin word was borrowed widely, giving also [[fr|école]] and [[de|Schule]].^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ''School'', a group of fish, is a different word: it is [[inh|enm|scole]], [[bor|dum|schole|t=troop, multitude]], related to [[ang|scolu|t=troop, crowd of fish]] and to [[shoal]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Word Histories)^(Etymonline) and Etymonline suggests a root meaning “to cut”, as in a division.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A place for instruction (Old English ''scōl'', before 899, in Alfred's translation of Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The basic sense of the Greek word was “leisure”, which passed to the learned discussion that was the proper use of free time, and then to the place where it was held;^(Etymonline)^(MW Word Histories) Merriam-Webster's ''Word Histories'' dates the first use of ''skholḗ'' for a place of learning to about 30 BC.^(MW Word Histories) The Romans borrowed it as ''schola'' and employed Greek slaves as teachers, and Christian missionaries later spread schools across Europe.^(MW Word Histories) In English it replaced Old English ''lārhūs'', “lore-house”.^(Weekley 1921) The meaning “students attending a school” is attested from about 1300, and the school building by the 1590s.^(Etymonline) The sense of a group united by similar principles or methods, first recorded in Bacon's ''Essays'' (1612), gave ''school of thought'' (by 1848).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The verb first meant “to study at a university” (about 1425) and then “to teach” (about 1445),^(Barnhart 1988) and since the 1570s “to train or discipline strictly”.^(Etymonline) In the United States ''school'' has meant a college or university since 1701.^(HTOED) In Australia a ''school'' was a group of gamblers, especially at two-up, from 1812.^(Dalzell 2013)^(HTOED) South African English uses ''school'' of an African person educated at a mission school, and ''to school'', to attend school.^(DSAE)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 899 – Old English ''scōl''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – the students of a school.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1400 – a group of fish (a separate word).^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1425 – verb, to study at a university.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1445 – verb, to teach.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – the school building.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1612 – a group with similar principles or methods.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1701 – a college or university (US).^(HTOED)

+ * 1848 – ''school of thought''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1870 – ''school of hard knocks''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An institution for educating children.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An institution for instruction in a particular skill or subject: ''a dancing school''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(North America)'' A college or university; a faculty of a university: ''law school''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # The pupils and staff of a school; its building; the time spent there: ''after school''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A group of artists, writers or thinkers sharing a style, method or [[doctrine]].^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Etymonline)

+ # A large group of [[fish]] or sea mammals swimming together; a [[shoal]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(MW Word Histories)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To educate at a school.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To train or discipline: ''schooled herself to accept it''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Of fish, to swim in a school.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or relating to a school or to education.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[schoolable]]

+ * [[schoolless]]

+ * [[schoollike]]

+ * [[schooling]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scholar]]

+ * [[scholastic]]

+ * [[scheme]]

+ * [[shoal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}