Lyzeum

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin Lycēum, from Ancient Greek Λύκειον (Lúkeion). The use for a girls’ school may have been partly due to an inhibition to using the word Gymnasium with girls because of the underlying Ancient Greek γυμνός (gumnós, “naked”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /lyˈtseː.ʊm/, /li-/
  • Audio(file)
  • Audio (Austria)(file)

Noun

Lyzeum n (strong, genitive Lyzeums, plural Lyzeen)

  1. (archaic) grammar school for girls
    Synonym: Töchterschule
  2. (obsolete) grammar school (for boys or in general)
    Synonym: Gymnasium
  3. (obsolete) an honorific byname for a university
  4. (archaic, Bavaria, Roman Catholicism) a type of theological and philosophical institutes (existing under this name until 1923)

Usage notes
  • (grammar school): The distinction between Gymnasium (for boys) and Lyzeum (for girls) existed from the 19th century until circa 1950. The terms were equivalents of each other, though the educations were somewhat different as Lyzeen did not prepare for university. Today, therefore, Gymnasium is the general word and girls-only ones are called Mädchengymnasium.

Declension
Declension of Lyzeum [neuter, strong]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein das Lyzeum die Lyzeen
genitive eines des Lyzeums der Lyzeen
dative einem dem Lyzeum den Lyzeen
accusative ein das Lyzeum die Lyzeen

Derived terms

Further reading
  • “Lyzeum” in Duden online
  • “Lyzeum” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.