Sport & ContestGreek → English
Calisthenics
/ˌkælɪsˈθɛnɪks/noun
Exercise using the weight of one's own body, without machines or added load.
The Greek roots
κάλλος
kállos
beauty
σθένος
sthénos
strength, might
Literally: “beautiful strength”
The story of the word
κάλλος, beauty, plus σθένος, strength, assembled in the 1820s for exercise systems sold to girls and women at a time when gymnastics was considered unfeminine. The name did the selling: strength, but graceful. That σθένος also gives asthenia, weakness, which is the same noun with a negative alpha in front. Usage has since drifted to the hard end, and a calisthenics gym now means rings, bars and people holding themselves horizontal.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → modern coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1820s
Same family
calligraphykaleidoscopecallipygianasthenia
In a sentence
He trained on calisthenics for two years and never touched a weight.
Morning calisthenics in the yard, whatever the weather.