Lyceum

Lyceum (Gr. Lukeion), originally the name of a place in the immediate neighbourhood of Athens, consecrated to Apollo Lyceus, and noted for its shady wood and beautiful gardens, but particularly for its gymnasium, in which Aristotle and the Peripatetics taught, and from which the Romans borrowed the same name for similar institutions. In more modern times the name lyceum was given in honour of Aristotle to the higher Latin schools in which the Aristotelian philosophy formed a principal branch of education; and at the present day the name is variously applied to educational and literary institutions, especially to the French schools called Lycées (see FRANCE). The term lyceum is frequently employed in America for what would be called in England an academy, association, or society. It may signify also the building in which the society meets.