'School' is Greek for 'leisure' — because the Greeks saw intellectual pursuit as what free citizens did.
An institution for educating children or a place of instruction in a particular discipline.
From Greek 'skholḗ' (σχολή), which originally meant 'leisure, rest, ease' — specifically the free time that an Athenian citizen could devote to intellectual pursuits rather than manual labor. Because leisure was spent in philosophical discussion, 'skholḗ' gradually shifted to mean 'a place where learned discussions happen,' and then 'a place of instruction.' The word thus records the ancient Greek conviction that education
The word 'school' originally meant 'leisure' in ancient Greek. The Athenians believed that only free citizens with time on their hands could pursue philosophy and learning — so 'skholḗ' (leisure) became the word for the place where learning happened, and the children who dread Monday mornings are etymologically heading off to 'leisure.'
Words closest in meaning, ranked by similarity