preschool

P3R1E1S1C3H4O1O1L1
US/ˈpɹiːskuːl/

adjective

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

CommonScrabble 16

Meanings

adjectivepreschool (not comparable)

alternative pre-school

  1. not comparableOf or relating to the years of early childhood before attendance at primary school.
nounpreschool (plural preschools)

plural preschools · alternative pre-school

  1. A nursery school.

    What could you do with the transumer trend in your agency? What about a coffee cart where parents pick up their children from preschool or classes?

    2015, Timothy S O'Connell, Brent Cuthbertson, Terilyn J. Goins, Leadership in Recreation and Leisure Services, →ISBN
    1 more example

    In a study published in late July in the Journal of Sleep Research, researchers looked at how 1,619 children in China were doing in terms of sleep. The children, ages 4, 5 and 6, were recruited from 11 preschools in the province of Guizhou, in the city of Zunyi, about 650 miles from Wuhan.

    2020 August 17, Perri Klass, “How Children’s Sleep Habits Have Changed in the Pandemic”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Aug 2020, The Checkup
  2. PhilippinesA school including nursery and kindergarten. It is succeeded by elementary school.
verbpreschool (third-person singular simple present preschools, present participle preschooling, simple past and past participle preschooled)

present singular third person preschools · participle present preschooling · participle past preschooled · past preschooled · alternative pre-school

  1. transitiveTo provide nursery school education for.
  2. intransitiveTo undergo nursery school education.

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*prai-
  6. Latinprae-
  7. Middle Englishpre-
  8. Englishpre-
  9. Englishschool
  10. Englishpreschool

From pre- + school.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian предучилищен
  • предучилищен (predučilišten)relating to years before primary school
Catalan preescolar
  • preescolarrelating to years before primary school
Czech předškolní
  • předškolnírelating to years before primary school
Finnish koulua edeltävä
  • koulua edeltävärelating to years before primary school
French préscolaire
  • préscolairerelating to years before primary school
German vorschulisch
  • vorschulischrelating to years before primary school
Greek προσχολικός
  • προσχολικός (proscholikós)relating to years before primary school
Indonesian prasekolah
  • prasekolahrelating to years before primary school
Italian prescolare
  • prescolarerelating to years before primary school
Polish przedszkolny
  • przedszkolnyrelating to years before primary school
Portuguese pré-escolar
  • pré-escolarrelating to years before primary school
Romanian preșcolar, preșcolară
  • preșcolarrelating to years before primary school
  • preșcolarărelating to years before primary school
Russian дошко́льный
  • дошко́льный (doškólʹnyj)relating to years before primary school
Slovak predškolský
  • predškolskýrelating to years before primary school
Spanish preescolar
  • preescolarrelating to years before primary school
Swedish förskola
  • förskolarelating to years before primary school
Turkish okul öncesi
  • okul öncesirelating to years before primary school
Ukrainian дошкі́льний
  • дошкі́льний (doškílʹnyj)relating to years before primary school
Cite this entry
APA

preschool. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preschool

MLA

“preschool.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preschool. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preschool,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preschool.

Source: preschool on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.