อนุบาล
kindergarten
A native Thai recording for this word is on the way. Please check back soon.
- 1 kindergarten、kindergarten level
- 2 care for and raise (a young child or animal)、closely tend to (someone requiring constant care)
This word centers on caring for and protecting someone or something that is not yet independent. In everyday use, it most often refers to kindergarten or the kindergarten level.
kindergarten、kindergarten level
It refers to kindergarten as a place or, especially in educational contexts, the kindergarten level before primary school.
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ลูกเรียนอยู่ชั้นอนุบาล lûuk rian yùu chán ànúbaan My child is in kindergarten. ลูกเรียนอยู่ชั้นอนุบาล details
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น้องเข้าอนุบาลปีนี้ nɔ́ɔŋ khâw ànúbaan pii níi My younger child is starting kindergarten this year. น้องเข้าอนุบาลปีนี้ details
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เด็กอนุบาล dèk ànúbaan a kindergarten child เด็กอนุบาล details
care for and raise (a young child or animal)、closely tend to (someone requiring constant care)
It means to protectively care for and raise a young child or animal. By extension, it can describe closely tending to someone who needs constant assistance, such as a bedridden patient.
Learning notes
Explanation
The central image of อนุบาล is protecting and caring for someone or something that cannot yet manage independently. In modern Thai, its most common uses relate to education: โรงเรียนอนุบาล means “kindergarten,” ชั้นอนุบาล means the kindergarten level, and อนุบาล 1, อนุบาล 2, and อนุบาล 3 identify individual kindergarten grades. When used alone, อนุบาล is normally understood as “kindergarten” or “the kindergarten level.” As a verb, it describes protectively caring for and raising young children or animals. With a patient, it does not mean “raise”; it extends to constant, attentive personal care. In คอยอนุบาลผู้ป่วยติดเตียง, the nurse remains close by and carefully tends to the bedridden patient. The word also has a specialized legal use, but that meaning is not part of ordinary learner-level usage and is omitted here.
Usage
It is commonly used when discussing kindergarten enrollment, a child’s grade, school names, and early education. The verb appears in descriptions of caring for young children or animals. It may also be applied to a sick or dependent person receiving intensive care, though this is relatively uncommon in everyday conversation.
Caution
For ordinary “look after,” ดูแล is more natural, while เลี้ยงดู is the usual choice for raising a child. Using อนุบาล with a patient is not standard medical wording and may suggest treating the person like a small child. For a neutral expression, use ดูแลผู้ป่วยอย่างใกล้ชิด, “closely care for the patient.”
Differences from similar words
1 kindergarten synonyms
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ปฐมวัย broadly refers to early childhood as an age or developmental stage. อนุบาล more specifically refers to kindergarten or its educational level.
2 care for and raise (a young child or animal) synonyms
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ดูแล is the ordinary, broad verb for looking after a person, animal, place, or task. อนุบาล more strongly suggests protective care for someone or something dependent and is less widely used as a verb.