preschool
/ˈpɹiːskuːl/adjective, noun, verb
preschool is spelled P-R-E-S-C-H-O-O-L: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, preschool means “Of or relating to the years of early childhood before attendance at primary school” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in preschool?
| Letters | 9: P-R-E-S-C-H-O-O-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,731st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is preschool?
Preschool appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce preschool?
- US /ˈpɹiːskuːl/
Preschool has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Qwertygiy-preschool.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with preschool
Also written: pre-school (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of preschool
- pre-school
- preschools plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- preschooling participle, present
- preschooled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does preschool mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or relating to the years of early childhood before attendance at primary school.
noun
- 1
A nursery school.
- 2
A school including nursery and kindergarten. It is succeeded by elementary school.
verb
- 1
To provide nursery school education for.
- 2
To undergo nursery school education.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Preschool in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense relating to years before primary school:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | préscolaire |
| German | vorschulisch |
| Portuguese | pré-escolar |
| Spanish | preescolar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does preschool come from?
From pre- + school.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).