Kindergarten German · revision 36205

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound, coinage|attested=1840, Friedrich Fröbel}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkɪndərˌɡartən/, [ˈkɪndɐˌɡaʁtn̩], [-ˌɡaɐ̯tn̩]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Kindergarten''' ''m'' (genitive Kindergartens, plural Kindergärten)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound [[af|de|Kind|Garten|t1=child|t2=garden]], with the plural of the first noun as its first part.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE) The educator Friedrich Fröbel coined it in 1840 for his school for small children.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE) The name is a metaphor: a place where children can grow in a natural way, not a garden in the literal sense.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Fröbel used the word in 1840 for his institution for children below school age, a first educational establishment.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|11, 737)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before Fröbel, Jean Paul had used ''Kindergarten'' figuratively in ''Titan'' for the island where his hero spent his childhood, “the home of one's childhood”.^(DWB|11, 737) After the pattern of Fröbel's word, [[Kinderhort]] was formed in 1871 for a day centre for schoolchildren, today mostly shortened to [[Hort]].^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The word spread abroad with Fröbel's method.^(Wiktionary)^(LWP) English borrowed it as [[m|en|kindergarten]] in 1852,^(Etymonline)^(LWP) and many languages translated it part by part: [[fr|jardin d'enfants]], [[da|børnehave]], [[nl|kindertuin]] and [[ja|幼稚園|tr=yōchien]] are calques of the German word.^(Wiktionary) Colloquially, ''Kindergarten'' also stands for childish, petty squabbling.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1840 – Friedrich Fröbel coins ''Kindergarten'' for his school for small children.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ * 1852 – English borrows the word as ''kindergarten''.^(Etymonline)^(LWP)

+ * 1871 – ''Kinderhort'' is formed after the model of ''Kindergarten''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|kindergarten]] or [[m|en|nursery school]]: a public institution that looks after children below school age and supports their development: ''Unsere Tochter geht seit dem Sommer in den Kindergarten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial, derogatory)'' Childish [[m|en|antics]], petty squabbling: ''Hört auf zu streiten, das ist ja der reinste Kindergarten''.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Kind]]

+ * [[Garten]]

+ * [[Kinderhort]]

+ * [[en|kindergarten]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}