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kindergarten

UK/ˈkɪndəˌɡɑːt(ə)n/US/ˈkɪndəɹˌɡɑːɹt(ə)n/
nounA2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,268 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: kindergartens

Kindergarten is the place where very small children play and learn before real school. Start kindergarten, a kindergarten teacher, kindergarten children.

The name means children's garden in German, and the metaphor was deliberate — Froebel thought children should be grown rather than instructed. In America it is the first year of school; in Britain the word is rare and nursery is used instead. Note the German spelling kept whole.

woodleywonderworks · CC BY 2.0

Definitions of kindergarten

  1. 1nounkindergartenA school for very small children.A2+

    “Our son starts kindergarten this autumn, and he's very excited.”

kindergarten is a school.

Also accepted in games: nursery, preschool

Where it comes from

German Kindergarten means children's garden, coined by Friedrich Froebel in 1840 for his infant schools.

  1. German

    Kindergarten — kindergarten

  2. English, today

    kindergarten

German Kindergarten (“kindergarten”) literally “garden of children”, coined by Friedrich Fröbel in 1840.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in School & Learning

Practise this word

kindergarten in the wild

  • The typical age range for preschool in most countries is from 4 to 6 years (preschool to kindergarten).

    Preschool

  • CMSD has 68 schools that are for kindergarten to eighth grade students and 39 schools for high school aged students.

    Cleveland Metropolitan School District

  • Pre-kindergartens play an important role in early childhood education.

    Pre-kindergarten

  • Head Start program, the country's first federally funded pre-kindergarten program, was founded in 1967.

    Pre-kindergarten

  • The series follows Anzu, a kindergarten girl who is in love with her teacher and tries to win his affection but always fails.

    Hanamaru Kindergarten

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.