The meaning of the word gymnasium comes from the Greek word “γυμνάζω” that means gymnastic exercise. For the modern world the meaning of the word gymnasium is an educational department. First gymnasiums appeared in the ancient Greece and in the 5th century they became educational departments.

In the 16th century gymnasiums were widespread among the intellectual rich people. Before the 16th century gymnasiums were called secondary schools that were divided into monastic, order and community based on the ancient Rome curriculum. The main subjects were grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy, logics, physics and ethics.

During the Reformation epoch a new tendency appeared. It was classic scholastic trend. It influenced on many humanistic schools appearance. They were also called lyceums, gymnasiums, scientific schools and pedagogiums.

Together with gymnasiums the middle of the 16th century was the era of Jesuitical boards whose three grades corresponded to gymnasium. They were called inferiora studia and consisted of 5 forms:

• infima grammatica,

• media grammatica,

• suprema gramm., or syntaxis,

• humanitas

• rhetorica;

The first teacher exam was founded in the 19th century. After it the German scientists defined true meaning of the word gymnasium. It was “the school for the population that wants to be advanced with the help of the humanity laws knowledge”.  The most important means for that aim the gymnasium took from the ancient languages and math. The main ancient language is Latin. Math sciences included arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, zoology and even mineralogy. A great role was played by the home language and literature. The basic subject was Scripture while the secondary ones were new languages, history and geography, calligraphy, drawing and gymnastics. The ancient languages ruling position has remained in modern gymnasiums too that is not welcomed by many.

By the beginning of the 20th century gymnasiums existed in Austria-Hungary, Prussia, Bulgary and Russia. In France they were presented by Lycées и Collèges, in England were by Grammar-Schools, Grammar-Colleges and High Schools, in the United States of America the gymnasium examples were Grammar-Schools and High Schools, in Belgium did Athénées, Spanish gymnasiums were Institutes and colegios, Italian were licei (its ginnasi had pre-gymnasium features), Switzerland had cantonal schools (Cantonschulen), and Scandinavian countries did “erudite schools”. The gymnasium basic system of the 20th century has continued to our days.