‘游泳池’ literally means ‘swimming pool’ — a constructed facility filled with water specifically for swimming, recreation, or training. The word combines three characters: ‘游’ (yóu) meaning ‘to swim’ or ‘to move freely in water’, ‘泳’ (yǒng) also meaning ‘to swim’ (often used in formal or compound contexts), and ‘池’ (chí) meaning ‘pool’ or ‘pond’. While ‘游’ and ‘泳’ are near-synonyms, together they form a fixed compound emphasizing the activity of swimming, and ‘池’ specifies the physical location — making the whole term unambiguous and widely understood across all Chinese-speaking regions.

This noun is commonly used in daily life, from public announcements (e.g., ‘游泳池开放时间’) to casual conversation (e.g., ‘我们去游泳池吧’). It applies equally to indoor and outdoor pools, whether in gyms, hotels, schools, or residential complexes. Unlike the more general ‘水池’ (water pool) or ‘池塘’ (pond), ‘游泳池’ always implies human-designed infrastructure intended for swimming, not natural bodies of water.