kleuter

16th century, of uncertain origin. The two most widely supported hypotheses are:

• regional byform of *kloter, extension of kloot (“ball, lump”), from the general association of children with thickish, roundish objects;
• deverbal from kleuteren, a byform of klateren, kletteren (“to clatter”), from the noise that children tend to make.

Compare also peuter (“toddler”), which however is more recent (19th c.) and itself influenced by kleuter.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkløː.tər/

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• Hyphenation: kleu‧ter
• Rhymes: -øːtər
• Homophone: Kleuter

kleuter m (plural kleuters, diminutive kleutertje n)

1. a child between the ages of four and seven years (before the onset of concrete operational thought)
2. (dated, specifically) a kindergartner
3. (archaic) a minor of any age, though chiefly up to 10 years
4. (figurative) an adult or older child who behaves very immaturely

• WNT - Kleuter