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child definition

child (c̸hīld)

noun pl. children chil′·dren

  1. an infant; baby
  2. an unborn offspring; fetus
  3. a boy or girl in the period before puberty
  4. a son or daughter; offspring
    1. a descendant
    2. a member of a tribe, clan, etc.: often used in pl. children of Israel
  5. a person like a child in interests, judgment, etc., or one regarded as immature and childish
  6. a person identified with a specified place, time, etc. a child of the Renaissance
  7. a thing that springs from a specified source; product a child of one's imagination
  8. Archaic childe
  9. Brit., Dialectal a female infant

Etymology: ME, pl. childre (now dial. childer; children is double pl.) < OE cild, pl. cild, cildru < IE *gelt-, a swelling up < base *gel-, rounded (sense development: swelling — womb — fetus — offspring > Goth kilthei, womb, L globus, sphere

Related Forms:

child Idioms

with child

pregnant
Child definition

Child (c̸hīld)

Child, Francis James 1825-96; U.S. scholar and collector of Eng. & Scot. ballads

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