Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Kindergarten \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.

Source : WordNet®

kindergarten
     n : a preschool for children age 4 to 6 to prepare them for
         primary school