physical education
noun
Did you know?
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 physical education in a Sentence
Rory Linnane, jsonline.com, 30 Dec. 2025
The Campbell Union High School District’s payout comes nearly two years after the allegations surfaced against Shawn Thomas, a physical education and social science teacher who also worked as a football and track coach at Los Gatos High School.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 23 Dec. 2025
Ramona High girls’ soccer coach Daniel Delgado is not only uber upbeat, but a 2008 Bulldog graduate who is an on-campus physical education teacher, and has some very good early-season numbers to go with it.
—Steve Brand, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Dec. 2025
Maurer went on to earn a bachelor's degree in physical education and history from Valparaiso University and a master's degree in social and criminal justice from Lewis University in Romeoville, Crain's reported.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for physical education
Cite this Entry
“Physical education.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/physical%20education. Accessed 1 Jan. 2026.
Copy Citation
Share