Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Gymnasium \Gym*na"si*um\n.; pl. E. {Gymnasiums}, L. {Gymnasia}.
   [L., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to exercise (naked), fr. ? naked.]
   1. A place or building where athletic exercises are
      performed; a school for gymnastics.

   2. A school for the higher branches of literature and
      science; a preparatory school for the university; -- used
      esp. of German schools of this kind.

            More like ordinary schools of gymnasia than
            universities.                         --Hallam.