Phrase guide

normal school

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A school for training teachers, especially in mainland Europe and North America.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a two-year school for training elementary teachers

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: teachers college

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: junior college

History

Etymology

Calque of French école normale, so called because the norms of pedagogy are taught there.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 師範學校 /师范学校 (shīfàn xuéxiào) — school for training teachers
  • Dutch: normaalschool — school for training teachers
  • Dutch: kweekschool — school for training teachers
  • Finnish: normaalikoulu — school for training teachers
  • French: école normale — school for training teachers
  • German: Normalschule — school for training teachers
  • Hungarian: tanárképző/tanítóképző főiskola — school for training teachers
  • Indonesian: institut keguruan dan ilmu pendidikan — school for training teachers
  • Japanese: 師範学校 — school for training teachers
  • Romanian: școală normală — school for training teachers
  • Spanish: escuela normal — school for training teachers
  • Tagalog: paaralang normal — school for training teachers