Gymnasium (ancient Greece) the Greek noun γυμνάσιον ("gymnasion"), "gymnastic school", in pl. "bodily exercises" and generally "school" which in turn is derived from the common Greek adjective ("gymnos") meaning "naked", by way of the related verb γυμνάζω ("gymnazo"), whose meaning is "to train naked", "train in gymnastic exercise", generally "to train, to exercise". The verb had this meaning because one undressed for exercise. Historically, the gymnasium was used for exercise, communal bathing, and scholarly and philosophical pursuits. The English noun "gymnast", first recorded in 1594, is formed from the Greek γυμναστής ("gymnastēs"), but in Greek this word means "trainer" not "gymnast". The "palaistra"
Greek language word. Modern borrowings (from the 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected; other modern borrowings are derived from South Slavic (Macedonian/Bulgarian) and Eastern Romance languages (Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian). Greek words have been widely borrowed into other languages, including English: "mathematics", "physics", "astronomy", "democracy", "philosophy", "athletics, theatre, rhetoric", "baptism", "evangelist", etc. Moreover, Greek words and word elements continue to be productive as a basis for coinages: "anthropology", "photography", "telephony", "isomer", "biomechanics", "cinematography", etc. and form, with Latin words, the foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary like all words ending with "–logy" ("discourse"). There are many