[German version]

I. Etymology and definition

Thermae (fem. pl.) is a Latinization and substantivization of the Greek adjective θερμός/thermós, 'warm'. The word was used in its Latinized form to describe a bathing establishment, and subsequently passed back into the Greek language in this sense. As in Classical Antiquity, modern scholarship has no precise definition of 'thermal baths' (TB), although it has for the smaller baths (balnea). TB are normally defined as large, public bathing establishme…