The origin of the word "school". The etymology of the word "school"

The word "school" is so familiar in our vocabulary that few people are interested in where the word came from. "School" - so it is pronounced in Russian, "schoe" - as it sounded in ancient Greece, where it comes from. True, it was interpreted a little differently: "rest", "leisure" and "idleness", in other words - "pleasant pastime". The etymology of the word "school" implied that it was not complete inaction and relaxation, but the management of clever and instructive conversations, the favorite art of Greek philosophers, in their spare time. Over time, these wise men and thinkers had permanent students, and the concept of "school" began to denote the educational process, and later the premises adapted to it.

Classes in the school of the past did not differ much from modern lessons. Naturally, the temporary difference has made its own adjustments, but the principle is painfully similar to what we are accustomed to: the same disobedient disciples, strict teachers and bored lessons.

School of Ancient Time

The process of education was still at the very first stage of human development, so we can assume that the first schools appeared exactly at that time. The meaning of the word "school" in the Ancient World bore a different meaning: the children were taught not to read and write (it still did not exist), but the ability to survive in the world around them. The ability to hunt and martial arts were the most important lessons for boys. Girls, like at all times, mastered farming, needlework, cooking. Well and where without examinations? Of course, they were, but represented a difficult test, the so-called "initiation rite." The young man, for testing his willpower and patience, could be tormented by fire, beat, cut through the skin, which almost always caused the teenager to lose consciousness. The successful passing of such an examination was for the boy pride, as he became a full member of an adult society.

Sumerians: a highly educated nation

Very interesting information has been preserved about the schools of Sumerians - one of the first civilizations. "The house of tablets" - the so-called educational institutions of the population, which for 3 thousand years BC. E. Mastered pottery, skillfully irrigated fields, weaved, spun, forged tools of labor from copper and bronze.
The Sumerians skillfully wrote poems, composed music, had their own writing, knew astronomy, and mastered the main rules of algebra (multiplication, division and even extraction from the square root). It was such schools that gave way to the young men who later became leaders.

School in Egypt

It was very hard for the students of Egypt, because the learning process was complicated: it was required to know more than 700 characters, the writing of which required great accuracy.
An indispensable subject of training was the three-tailed whip that lay at the feet of the teacher. The pupils began school hours with memorizing verses, repeating large passages aloud for the teacher, and at the end of the day they could already freely tell them.

How the ancient Greeks learned

In Ancient Greece, school attendance was allowed exclusively for boys from wealthy families - the sons of slaves were not there, so they had to start working from an early age. The girls were at home training, under the supervision of their mother, and mastered the sciences, which could be useful to them in their future family life: housekeeping, music, needlework, weaving and, of course, literacy. Studying at school was paid. And since the Athenians, like all slave owners, despised people working for money, then the teachers did not use respect in society. The meaning of the word "school" was associated with the teacher, and hence with the poor way of life that he led. If a person has not received any news for a long time, then his acquaintances said that the latter either died or became a teacher. A beggarly existence did not allow him to even make himself felt.

The boys attended the school from the age of 7 and necessarily accompanied by a slave-educator who looked after the child and carried his school things. The main lessons were writing, reading and counting. It is from those ancient times that the word "school" originates.

The reading consisted of studying Homer's poems - "Illyada" and "Odyssey." In addition to gaining additional knowledge of geography, the child was exemplified by the courage and perseverance of the heroes of works in the struggle against difficulties.

In the account visual aids were pebbles and a special board with the numbers of numbers marked on it: units, tens, hundreds.

The letter was first dealt with on a ditch from wood covered with wax, and later on papyrus. The predecessor of the modern handle was a style - a special metal or bone stick, sharpened from one end.

Particular attention was paid to music, which was an integral part of the life of the Greeks. Each boy learned to sing and play the flute or cithara.

Also, students diligently engaged in gymnastics, giving the body harmony, flexibility - Greece needed a healthy nation.

Unlike modern schools (in which the origin of the word "school" interests a small percentage of students), in institutions of the past, teachers could punish children for disobedience and poor academic performance. For this there was a stick and rods.

At school, classes were completed by the age of 16. Children of wealthy parents for another 2 years could continue their education.

1 September is the day of knowledge

The history of the word "school" is always associated with the date of September 1 - the next vital step with bouquets of flowers, a meeting with friends and the first bell. Why did the choice fall on this day for the start of the school year? If the origin of the word "school" is associated with Ancient Greece, then the Byzantium is the founder of the autumn tradition, in which September 1 marked the beginning of the creation of the world by the Lord. It was to this number that field work ended, in which both old and young were involved. Grand Prince Ivan III at the end of the XV century announced on September 1 the beginning of the New Year (otherwise, Novoliyet) and the church-state holiday. Later, according to the decree of Peter the Great, the New Year was transferred to the usual for everyone on January 1, and the church calendar and agricultural calendar were left unchanged due to the employment of the population during the agricultural hardship period.

On September 1, the doors of schools open in countries such as the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States. In Germany and Spain in each province, the academic year depends on the timing of harvesting and begins no later than October 1. In Italy, this date is the starting point. Children of the Danes go to school in mid-August, and the British, Canadians and Americans - on the first Tuesday of September. The etymology of the word "school" unites all countries, even Japan, sending the younger generation to get knowledge on April 1.

The meaning of the word "school"

In modern Russian, the word "school" is given much more importance than we are accustomed to. So, synonyms for the word "school" can be easily selected, knowing its full meaning. It:

• Educational institution (primary and secondary, higher school);
• A specialized educational institution (music, children's sports school);
• The educational system as a whole;
• Training, overgrowth of experience (philological school, school of life);
• Socio-political, scientific and artistic direction (Moscow Linguistic School, School of Modern Art);
• Nursery for growing plants.

Based on the above definitions, you can choose synonyms for the word "school". It is an educational institution, a school, a gymnasium, a nursery, a film school, intelligence school, a boarding school, preparedness, style, class, skill and a number of other words.

School: root and root words

The root of the word "school" is the basis for such derivatives: "schoolboy", "schoolgirl", "school", "schoolboy", "schoolchildren". By the way, the word "schoolboy" is understood as "indulging", "babbling", that is, to lead like a schoolboy. "Schoolchildren" refers to the tricks inherent in the student, the child. Earlier in use was the word "schoolboy", according to a mistaken opinion, borrowed from the Ukrainian language and is now obsolete. In fact, it has Polish roots ("szkolarz" - so it is written by the Poles). From the word "schoolboy" there are derivatives - "schooling" and "schoolboy", the meaning of which in the Ukrainian language bears both positive and negative meaning and is deciphered as:

• Collective to the "schoolboy";
• Stay in school;
• Adherence to primitive, dogmatic norms, patterns, a helpless pupil approach to anything.
• A student of bad behavior;
• Disrespectful attitude towards the individual. This can be observed in the works of many Russian writers.

According to the interpretation of V. Dal, "schooling" is defined as a dry and dull drill, pedantry, persistently following the accepted, often nonsensical and petty rules.

The origin of the word "school" according to Y. Kamensky

There is another version of the origin of the word "school", consisting of an abbreviation, which was invented by the Czech teacher and thinker J. Kamensky (1562-1670). He developed a well-known idea of universal education in his native language, and gave the name from the initial letters of the motto, translated into Russian as "It's wise to think, act nobly, and skillfully speak."

History of some words

Just as the history of the word "school", the origin of the words associated with it attracts attention.

Portfolio. It has French roots and consists of two parts: "port" ("wear") and "fel" ("sheet of paper").

Notebook. It comes from the Greek "tetradion", which means "folded out of four parts". It is in this way that the Greeks made notebooks in ancient times, sewing four leaves for comfort.

Holidays. The favorite word of all schoolboys in a literal translation from Latin means "doggies". Where is the connection? "Vacation" (doggie), the Romans called the star Sirius, as they thought - the hunting dog of Orion the trapper. At the appearance of Sirius in Rome, a very hot summer came and a break was declared in all classes, which was called "vacations".