\Kin"der*gar`ten\, n. [G., lit., children's garden;
kinder (pl. of kind child, akin to E. kin kindred) + garten
garden.]
A school for young children, conducted on the theory that
education should be begun by gratifying and cultivating the
normal aptitude for exercise, play, observation, imitation,
and construction; -- a name given by Friedrich Froebel, a
German educator, who introduced this method of training, in
rooms opening on a garden.