Standard Lemma guide

preschool

adj · noun · verb · 6 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈpɹiːskuːl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P R IY0 S K UW1 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: P R IY1 S K UW2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or relating to the years of early childhood before attendance at primary school.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A nursery school.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A school including nursery and kindergarten. It is succeeded by elementary school.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Philippines

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To provide nursery school education for.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To undergo nursery school education.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

an educational institution for children too young for elementary school

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: educational institution

Narrower terms: kindergarten, nursery school, playschool, play group

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh2- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh2i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae-lbor. Middle English pre- English pre- English school English preschool From pre- + school.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: նախադպրոցական (naxadprocʻakan) — relating to years before primary school
  • Azerbaijani: məktəbəqədər — relating to years before primary school
  • Belarusian: дашко́льны (daškólʹny) — relating to years before primary school
  • Bulgarian: предучилищен (predučilišten) — relating to years before primary school
  • Burmese: မူကြို (mu-krui) — relating to years before primary school
  • Burmese: မူလတန်းကြို (mula.tan:krui) — relating to years before primary school
  • Catalan: preescolar — relating to years before primary school
  • Czech: předškolní — relating to years before primary school
  • Finnish: koulua edeltävä — relating to years before primary school
  • French: préscolaire — relating to years before primary school
  • German: vorschulisch — relating to years before primary school
  • Greek: προσχολικός (proscholikós) — relating to years before primary school
  • Indonesian: prasekolah — relating to years before primary school
  • Italian: prescolare — relating to years before primary school
  • Macedonian: пре́дшколски (prédškolski) — relating to years before primary school
  • Polish: przedszkolny — relating to years before primary school
  • Portuguese: pré-escolar — relating to years before primary school
  • Romanian: preșcolar — relating to years before primary school
  • Romanian: preșcolară — relating to years before primary school
  • Russian: дошко́льный (doškólʹnyj) — relating to years before primary school
  • Slovak: predškolský — relating to years before primary school
  • Spanish: preescolar — relating to years before primary school
  • Swedish: förskola — relating to years before primary school
  • Tajik: томактабӣ (tomaktabi) — relating to years before primary school
  • Turkish: okul öncesi — relating to years before primary school
  • Ukrainian: дошкі́льний (doškílʹnyj) — relating to years before primary school
Real reading context

preschool in complete knowledge articles