What does gym mean?
Gym is a common English noun for a place set up for physical exercise, such as a room, building or club with weights, machines and open floor space. It began as a shortened form of gymnasium, and the short form is now far more common in speech and writing. People use it for commercial fitness clubs, for the exercise facilities in schools and for the weight room in a home or hotel. In American English it also names the school subject of physical education, as in gym class. The word is informal and friendly, and it often carries the sense of routine self-improvement, as in going to the gym, a gym habit or a gym membership. It can sometimes suggest a certain lifestyle or culture around fitness. Because it is short and regular, it combines easily with other words to form compounds like gym bag, gym shoes and gym teacher. Knowing gym also helps with the longer family of words built on the same Greek root, including gymnast and gymnastics.
nounA gymnasium: a room, building or club equipped for physical exercise and training. It is also the school subject or class in which students do physical exercise.
- A room, building or club with equipment for physical exercise and training.
- A school class or subject involving physical exercise (physical education).
- Short for gymnastics, as in gym apparatus or gym competition (less common).
"She slipped into the gym before dawn, when the weights were still cold and the floor was empty."
"He signed up for a gym near his office so he could train after work."
"In gym class, the students took turns climbing the rope."
Regular plural formed by adding -s; it is countable when referring to separate facilities or clubs.
"There are three gyms within walking distance of the station."
Gym comes from the Greek word for naked, because ancient Greek athletes trained without clothes.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does gym come from?
Gym is a shortening of gymnasium, which entered English in the late 16th century from Latin gymnasium, itself borrowed from Greek gymnasion, a place for exercise. The Greek word derives from gymnazein, meaning to exercise or train naked, which comes from gymnos, meaning naked. The short form gym appeared in English in the 19th century. Related words from the same Greek root include gymnast, gymnastics and gymnosperm.
Related word forms
How gym is actually used
Gym is an informal clipped form of gymnasium and is now the usual everyday word. In British English, a gym is most often a fitness facility, while 'PE' is the usual name for the school subject. In American English, 'gym' is also common for the school class and for the school's exercise hall. The full form gymnasium is more formal, and in parts of continental Europe it names a type of secondary school.
Easily confused with gym
Jim is a given name, while gym is a place or class for physical exercise.
A gem is a precious or semi-precious stone, while a gym is a place for exercise.