What is "grammar school"

Grammar \Gram"mar\, n. [OE. gramere, OF. gramaire, F. grammaire Prob. fr. L. gramatica Gr ?, fem. of ? skilled in grammar, fr. ? letter. See Gramme, Graphic, and cf. Grammatical, Gramarye.]

1. The science which treats of the principles of language; the study of forms of speech, and their relations to one another; the art concerned with the right use and application of the rules of a language, in speaking or writing.

   Note: The whole fabric of grammar rests upon the classifying of words according to their function in the sentence.
   --Bain.

2. The art of speaking or writing with correctness or according to established usage; speech considered with regard to the rules of a grammar.

   The original bad grammar and bad spelling.
   --Macaulay.

3. A treatise on the principles of language; a book containing the principles and rules for correctness in speaking or writing.

4. treatise on the elements or principles of any science; as, a grammar of geography. Comparative grammar, the science which determines the relations of kindred languages by examining and comparing their grammatical forms. Grammar school.

   1. A school, usually endowed, in which Latin and Greek grammar are taught, as also other studies preparatory to colleges or universities; as, the famous Rugby Grammar School. This use of the word is more common in England than in the United States.

      When any town shall increase to the number of a hundred families or householders, they shall set up a grammar school, the master thereof being able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the University.
      --Mass. Records (1647).

   2. In the American system of graded common schools, at one time the term referred to an intermediate school between the primary school and the high school, in which the principles of English grammar were taught; now, it is synonymous with primary school or elementary school, being the first school at which children are taught subjects required by the state educational laws. In different communities, the grammar school (primary school) may have grades 1 to 4, 1 to 6, or 1 to 8, usually together with a kindergarten. Schools between the primary school and high school are now commonly termed middle school or intermediate school.

n. 1 (context archaic English) A school that teaches its pupils the grammar system of a European language, especially Latin and Greek. 2 (context chiefly UK English) A secondary school that stresses academic over practical or vocational education, until recent times open to those pupils who had passed the 11-plus examination. 3 (context US rare regional English) elementary school.

1. n. a secondary school emphasizing Latin and Greek in preparation for college

2. a school for young children; usually the first 6 or 8 grades [syn: grade school, elementary school, primary school]

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school.

The original purpose of medieval grammar schools was the teaching of Latin. Over time the curriculum was broadened, first to include Ancient Greek, and later English and other European languages, natural sciences, mathematics, history, geography, and other subjects. In the late Victorian era grammar schools were reorganised to provide secondary education throughout England and Wales; Scotland had developed a different system. Grammar schools of these types were also established in British territories overseas, where they have evolved in different ways.

Grammar schools became the selective tier of the Tripartite System of state-funded secondary education operating in England and Wales from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s and continuing in Northern Ireland. With the move to non-selective comprehensive schools in the 1960s and 1970s, some grammar schools became fully independent and charged fees, while most others were abolished or became comprehensive (or sometimes merged with a secondary modern to form a new comprehensive school). In both cases, many of these schools kept "grammar school" in their names. More recently, a number of state grammar schools still retaining their selective intake gained academy status, meaning that they are independent of the Local Education Authority (LEA). Some parts of England retain forms of the Tripartite System, and a few grammar schools survive in otherwise comprehensive areas. Some of the remaining grammar schools can trace their histories to before the 16th century.