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:
Torres feels lucky compared to many parents: By June, 3-year-old Lizette will be eligible for transitional kindergarten in public school and won’t need alternative care.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
A quarter century later, Amundson, now a 39-year-old travel agent and former kindergarten teacher, received a call from her 13-year-old neighbor.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
A kindergarten across the street from the family home held ballet classes after the regular school day finished.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Chait, a homegrown administrator who started as a kindergarten teacher, avoided a comparable vibe in the high school setting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
But a single moment can feel like an eternity to a five-year-old, especially one who’s bursting to tell his mother about his first day of kindergarten.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
"Prolonged air-raid alerts affect not only people's safety, but also the operation of businesses, logistics, transportation, schools, kindergartens," he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
The state’s measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccinations among kindergartens fell nearly 10% over 13 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
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
She used the knowledge she had gained teaching at kindergartens in Germany to make education enjoyable and approachable for her students.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2024
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.
