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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Kindergarten \Kin"der*gar`ten\, n. [G., lit., children's garden;
kinder (pl. of kind child, akin to E. kin kindred) garten
garden.]
1. A class within a primary school or a separate school for
young children, usually between the ages of four and six
years, designed to adapt children to the classroom
environment before beginning academic training, on the
theory that education should be begun by gratifying and
cultivating the normal aptitude for exercise, play,
observation, imitation, and construction; -- a name given
by Friedrich Froebel, a German educator, who introduced
this method of training, in rooms opening on a garden.
[1913 Webster]