Your Greek Word On A Sunday
Award nominated, bite-size podcast. Every Sunday, Greek words used in the English language. Travelling words, connecting cultures.
Your Greek Word On A Sunday
School
(Piano music)
Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go!
Now this is a surprising word. Not because of the way it arrived in English but because of how it evolved. Σχολή (scholi) in Ancient Greek Meant the interval from work. Your free time. What was considered the ideal or socially acceptable way to spend your free time was , learning by either thinking, debating or, discussing a matter. And there were places to go for that. Like the agora under the Acropolis where most philosophers gathered to train minds and debate their ideas with each other. Each philosopher’s place, within the agora, was named after their belief so, you had for example the Σχολή του Σωκράτη (scholi of Socrates) Socrates’ free time. But since that kind of learning was considered equally important as anything else, the place for lectures by philosophers would also be called Σχολή. In Latin 'Schola' meant a place for instructions, in Middle English 'Scole' meant the institution of learning and from 1590 onwards in English it was the name for all buildings used for the purpose of learning. 'Ecole' in French, 'escuela' in Spanish, 'scuola' in Italian, 'Schule' in German, 'Skola' (with a K) in Swedish, 'Σχολείο' in modern Greek and in English, keeping the anglicised Greek spelling of ΣΧΟΛΗ/SCHOOL
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(Piano music)
Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go!
Now this is a surprising word. Not because of the way it arrived in English but because of how it evolved. Σχολή in Ancient Greek Meant the interval from work. Your free time. What was considered the ideal or socially acceptable way to spend your free time was , learning, by either thinking debating or discussing a matter. And there were places to go for that. Like the agora under the Acropolis where most philosophers gathered to trainminds and debate their ideas with each other. Each philosopher’s place, within the agora, was named after their belief so you had for example the Σχολή του Σωκράτη (Socrates’ free time). But since that kind of learning was considered equally important as anything else, the place for lectures by philosophers would also be called σχολή. In Latin Schola meant a place for instructions, in Middle English Scole meant the institution of learning and from 1590 onwards in English it was the name for all buildings used for the purpose of learning. Ecole in French, escuela in Spanish, scuola in Italian, schule in German, Skola (with a K) in Swedish, Σχολειο in modern Greek and in English, keeping the anglicised Greek spelling of ΣΧΟΛΗ/SCHOOL
