Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A hall in which public lectures, concerts, and similar programs are presented.
  • noun An organization sponsoring public programs and entertainment.
  • noun A lycée.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun [capitalized] An ancient public gymnasium with covered walks outside of Athens, near the river Ilissus, where Aristotle taught philosophy; hence, the Peripatetic school of philosophy. See Aristotelian.
  • noun A school for higher education preparatory to a university course. Compare college, 2 .
  • noun A house or an apartment appropriated to instruction by lectures or disquisitions.
  • noun An association for literary improvement.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A place of exercise with covered walks, in the suburbs of Athens, where Aristotle taught philosophy.
  • noun A house or apartment appropriated to instruction by lectures or disquisitions.
  • noun A higher school, in Europe, which prepares youths for the university.
  • noun An association for debate and literary improvement.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A public hall designed for lectures or concerts.
  • noun US A school at a stage between elementary school and college.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a public hall for lectures and concerts
  • noun a school for students intermediate between elementary school and college; usually grades 9 to 12

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin Lycēum, from Greek Lukeion, the name of a grove with athletic training grounds near Athens in which Aristotle taught, from Lukeios, epithet of Apollo (to whom the grove was sacred), of unknown meaning.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek Λύκειον (Lukeion) (the name of a gymnasium, or athletic training facility, near Athens where Aristotle established his school), from Λύκειος ("Lycian" or "wolf-killer").

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Examples

  • The term "lyceum" - then and now - refers to a concept traced back to ancient Greece and gatherings in an Athens garden with Aristotle to debate issues of the day.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • The term "lyceum" - then and now - refers to a concept traced back to ancient Greece and gatherings in an Athens garden with Aristotle to debate issues of the day.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • The term "lyceum" - then and now - refers to a concept traced back to ancient Greece and gatherings in an Athens garden with Aristotle to debate issues of the day.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • The term "lyceum" - then and now - refers to a concept traced back to ancient Greece and gatherings in an Athens garden with Aristotle to debate issues of the day.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • The term "lyceum" - then and now - refers to a concept traced back to ancient Greece and gatherings in an Athens garden with Aristotle to debate issues of the day.

    The Daily News - News 2009

  • The term "lyceum" - then and now - refers to a concept traced back to ancient Greece and gatherings in an Athens garden with Aristotle to debate issues of the day.

    The Daily News - News 2009

  • The term "lyceum" - then and now - refers to a concept traced back to ancient Greece and gatherings in an Athens garden with Aristotle to debate issues of the day.

    The Daily News - News 2009

  • The president of the lyceum was a sensible young man who, after graduating at Ann Arbor, decided, instead of starving at the law, to work with his hands and brains at the same time.

    Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences 1815-1897 1898

  • The president of the lyceum was a sensible young man who, after graduating at Ann Arbor, decided, instead of starving at the law, to work with his hands and brains at the same time.

    Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 Elizabeth Cady Stanton 1858

  • To signify the difference between her school and others, she dropped the word "lyceum" as Spiritualist schools were generally known and named hers the "First Spiritual Progressive School."

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr.: Harriet Wilson's Sunday School Jr. Henry Louis Gates 2011

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