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The Importance (Linguistic and Otherwise) of Physical Education
Physical education has existed since ancient times, but it wasn’t until several hundred years ago that the term itself (abbreviated as phys ed or PE) came into being. Its earliest known use comes, oddly enough, from a 1748 book titled Critical Reflections on Poetry, Painting, and Music: “Cannot some years prove more favorable than others to the physical education of children. . . ?” A few decades after these words were published, gymnasiums opened across Europe, especially in Germany, where gymnastics associations (or turnvereins) fostered physical health as well as civic involvement and cultural enrichment. Thanks in part to immigration, these clubs, and European enthusiasm for athletics in general, spread to the U.S. During the 19th century, American educators adopted European methods of teaching physical training, and both the word physical education and the phenomenon it represents became well established in this country.
Examples of phys ed in a Sentence
Sonaiya Kelley, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2024
One of them belongs to Joy Andrea, a petite, retired phys ed teacher who spent her career at Sweetwater Union High School District.
—Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 May 2024
Jessica Tapia, a former high school phys ed teacher in Riverside, California, is suing Jurupa Unified School District superintendent Trenton Hansen and Assistant Superintendent Daniel Brooks, alleging she was deprived of her free exercise of religion and freedom of speech.
—Danielle Wallace, Fox News, 3 May 2023
There may be changes to sports and phys ed.
—Terry Demio, The Enquirer, 17 Nov. 2020
During the final period of each school day, players also practiced shooting outside during phys ed class, careful to avoid dribbling and wrenching their ankles on pine roots.
—New York Times, 8 Mar. 2022
But the benefits reaped by his friends—especially phys ed teacher Tommy, played by Vinterberg regular Thomas Bo Larsen—are more questionable, and the stakes rise all around when Nikolaj decides to escalate the group’s Skårderudian experiment.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 19 Mar. 2021
Mike Friskey, a phys ed and weight training teacher at Bel Air High School, was excited and poised to take over the Bobcats girls soccer program.
—Randy McRoberts, baltimoresun.com, 12 Aug. 2020
To someone who couldn’t even get himself over the pommel horse in phys ed, this looked like a superpower.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2019
Dictionary Entries Near phys ed
Cite this Entry
“Phys ed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phys%20ed. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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phys ed
noun
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