Meanings
plural grade schools
- CanadaPhilippinesUSrareeducationElementary school; primary school.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna school for young children; usually the first 6 or 8 grades
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
In contrast to high schools, the subsequent secondary school type, classes of this kind of school do not have typical nicknames. In a grade school all classes are simply enumerated 1st to 8th grade (called form or year in British English). In a high school, on the other hand, school year groups are in everyday parlance referred to as freshman/sophomore/junior/senior year.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
grade school. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grade%20school
“grade school.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grade%20school. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grade school,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grade%20school.
Source: grade school on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.