kindergarten

[kin-der-gahr-tn, -dn]

noun

1. a school or class for young children between the ages of four and six years.

kindergarten

/ ˈkɪndəˌɡɑːtən /

noun

1. Often shortened to (in Australia and New Zealand): kinder.  kindy.  kindie. a class or small school for young children, usually between the ages of four and six to prepare them for primary education

Other Word Forms

• prekindergarten noun
• kindergartener noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of kindergarten¹

1850–55; < German: literally, children's garden, equivalent to Kinder children ( kind ² ) + Garten garden

Word History and Origins

Origin of kindergarten¹

C19: from German, literally: children's garden

Example Sentences

They shared their love of poetry, books and classical music with their daughter, who was reading Yeats by kindergarten.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Five toddlers from a kindergarten class were in a public park, accompanied by two teachers, when the assailant attacked them with a kitchen knife on January 22.

Read more on Barron's

Russia has regularly denied targeting residential areas, but maps of the city show no obvious military targets in the immediate vicinity of the kindergarten, and the Ukrainian government certainly spoke of it as deliberate.

Read more on BBC

When I was 30 years old, my oldest child came home from his first day of kindergarten talking about Jesus.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The buyers had been looking for eight months and wanted to find a house in a specific school district because their first child was starting kindergarten, she told MarketWatch.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• nursery school