Gym

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /d͡ʒɪm/

Definitions

1. A facility equipped for physical workouts and exercise activities
2. A venue where people go to perform fitness routines and improve health
3. An establishment designed for practicing sports and maintaining physical fitness

Etymology: The most striking thing about "gym" is how much of its history is hidden in its shortness. It is a clipping of "gymnasium", and that longer word traces back to the ancient Greek "gumnasion", a place for exercise and schooling. The Greek word came from "gumnos", meaning "naked", because Greek athletes trained without clothes. The ancient gymnasium was therefore named for the bare bodies that filled it. The Greek word passed into Latin as "gymnasium", keeping the same sense of a place where people trained, and English later borrowed it from there. Over time the clipped form "gym" became the everyday name for the room, equipment and activity that the full word once described.

Synonyms: fitness center, health club, workout facility, exercise room, training center