kindergarten
Americannoun
-
kindergartens
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of kindergarten
1850–55; < German: literally, children's garden, equivalent to Kinder children ( see kind 2) + Garten garden
Explanation
Kindergarten is where children are introduced to school; it's where five year old children learn all about their ABC's and choice time. Kindergarten comes from the German words Kinder ("children") and Garten ("garden"). A garden of children is a lovely and poetic image for a classroom full of antsy kids trying their hardest to master basic skills and ideas through creative and interactive lessons. But perhaps that is just how they were seen by the 19th-century German educator Friedrich Fröbel, who is credited with inventing kindergarten, his "method of developing intelligence in young children."
Vocabulary lists containing kindergarten
August Words
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for August 7–August 13, 2021
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Words Derived from German
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
SHANGHAI—When Jane Ding’s son headed on his first field trip in kindergarten, she was worried he would get lost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
While vaccination rates in Ohio have fallen, Cleveland is making improvements — rates for children entering kindergarten there have jumped from 68 percent a few years ago to 76 percent this past school year.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
She and her husband lived in New York then, and have talked with their children — a 9-year-old and two 15-year-olds — about it since kindergarten.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
“We’re told, ‘Oh no, your kid needs an iPad in kindergarten.’
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
We’ve all been making paper chains since we were in kindergarten!
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
As a result, many children stayed at home, while others spent hours in the basements of schools and kindergartens.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Authorities also waived fees for public kindergartens beginning last fall.
From Barron's ● Jan. 19, 2026
Zohran Mamdani promises policies along such lines: a rent freeze, free buses, free kindergartens, etc.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025
Getting vaccinated against hepatitis A has never been required as a condition of entry to California’s kindergartens or child-care centers, however.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2025
It had long been a leader in education, establishing one of the first kindergartens and introducing practice teaching to further the studies of its students.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
