As a noun, exercise is physical activity done to keep your body healthy and strong, or a task done to practice a skill. As a verb, to exercise means to use a part of your body or a skill so it stays strong and improves.
It comes from Latin 'exercitium', meaning 'practice, training', from 'exercere' (to keep busy, train), from 'ex-' (out) and 'arcere' (to keep in or away). The idea was to keep something actively in use so it wouldn’t weaken.
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