In Central European, Nordic, Benelux and Baltic countries, this meaning for "gymnasium" (that is a secondary school preparing the student for higher education at a university) has been the same at least since the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. The term was derived from the classical Greek word "γυμνάσιον" (gymnasion), which was originally applied to an exercising ground in ancient Athens. Here teachers gathered and gave instruction between the hours devoted to physical exercises and sports, and thus the term became associated with and came to mean an institution of learning.[1]