Kindergarten
/ˈkɪn.dərˌɡɑːr.tən/noun
A school or class for young children, typically before formal primary education.
Did you know?Friedrich Fröbel coined Kindergarten in 1840, using gardening as a deliberate metaphor for nurturing children rather than forcing knowledge into them.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵenh₁-
“to beget or give birth; the ancestral root behind words connected with birth and generation”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kindą
“child or offspring”
Old High German
OHG
kind
“child”
Middle High German
MHG
garten
“enclosed garden or cultivated ground”
1840
German
Kindergarten
““Children’s garden,” the educational term introduced by Friedrich Fröbel”
19th Century
English
kindergarten
“A school or class for young children, borrowed from German”