lyceum

noun

ly·​ce·​um lī-ˈsē-əm How to pronounce lyceum (audio) ˈlī-sē- How to pronounce lyceum (audio)
1
: a hall for public lectures or discussions
2
: an association providing public lectures, concerts, and entertainments
3
: lycée

Examples of lyceum in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web It was called the lyceum movement. Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 27 May 2021 The Midwest also saw an explosion of newspapers, libraries and a lyceum circuit featuring speakers like Clara Barton, Frederick Douglass and Henry David Thoreau. Kelly Scott Franklin, WSJ, 24 Nov. 2022 Cadets practice an emergency situation during a lesson in a bomb shelter on the first day of school at a cadet lyceum in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 1. Time, 23 Nov. 2022 All of the children in the lyceum participated in the exercise without protest. Mira Ptacin, Harper’s Magazine , 7 Dec. 2021 Its roots go back further, though, to the lyceum movement that started in Massachusetts in the 1820s and offered attendees the prospect of self-improvement through lectures on literary, scientific and moral topics. Joy Wallace Dickinson, orlandosentinel.com, 18 Apr. 2021 Thoreau delivered his famous essay Resistance to Civil Government as a lyceum lecture in January of 1848. R.h. Lossin, The New York Review of Books, 4 Sep. 2020 The Chandor Gardens Foundation envisions a lyceum, restaurant, classrooms, and amphitheater for the property. Star-Telegram, star-telegram.com, 27 June 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lyceum.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin Lyceum, gymnasium near Athens where Aristotle taught, from Greek Lykeion, from neuter of lykeios, epithet of Apollo

First Known Use

1786, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of lyceum was in 1786

Dictionary Entries Near lyceum

Cite this Entry

“Lyceum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lyceum. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

lyceum

noun
ly·​ce·​um lī-ˈsē-əm How to pronounce lyceum (audio) ˈlī-sē- How to pronounce lyceum (audio)
1
: a hall for public lectures or discussions
2
: an association providing public lectures, concerts, and entertainments

More from Merriam-Webster on lyceum

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!