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
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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:
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
On Sept. 11, 2001, I walked my son to his first day of kindergarten, then wandered to the nearby Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The school, which offers transitional kindergarten through eighth grade, enrolled 421 students last year, and 54 experienced homelessness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
“We’re told, ‘Oh no, your kid needs an iPad in kindergarten.’
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
First of all, Emma wanted to say, I dressed up as a scientist in a lab coat for Halloween in kindergarten, when the other girls were wearing princess crowns.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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
Essential to the modern apateu are the amenities — such as on-site kindergartens or convenience stores — that allow them to function like miniature towns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025
Without the creche she would have struggled to return to work: she didn't want to lean on her own parents, and state kindergartens won't generally take children for a full day.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 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.
