academ- (Greek > Latin: [originally, Academus/Akademus, a name of a hero in Greek mythology; then it became a gymnasium near Athens where Plato taught]).

In the beginning, "academy" referred to the "olive grove of Academus". Plato established his school in 387 B.C. Music, philosophy, and literature were taught there. Some accounts say that Plato sat on the ground and taught while resting against the trunk of an olive tree. Now academies exist as private-secondary schools, military institutions; as art, literary, and scientific societies; and institutions in the entertainment world.