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
5. 1. a descendant
   2. a member of a tribe, clan, etc.: often used in pl. children of Israel
6. a person like a child in interests, judgment, etc., or one regarded as immature and childish
7. a person identified with a specified place, time, etc. a child of the Renaissance
8. a thing that springs from a specified source; product a child of one's imagination
9. Archaic childe
10. 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