childhood

American  

[chahyld-hood] / ˈtʃaɪld hʊd /

noun

• childhoods
  plural

1. the state or period of being a child.

   Synonyms:

   girlhood, boyhood, youth

2. the early stage in the existence of something.

   the childhood of the human race.

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childhood British  

/ ˈtʃaɪldhʊd /

noun

1. the condition of being a child; the period of life before puberty

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prechildhood
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• childhoods
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of childhood

before 950; Middle English childhode, Old English cildhād. See child, -hood

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

childhood childhoods

His 2009 track Reflecting, which charts his journey from a difficult childhood to becoming a successful musician, was a major turning point for him and grime, he says.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

The small businesses of my suburban childhood in Summit, N.J., are still vivid in my mind.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Mallen Kupferer, the daughter of two theater artists and an actor since early childhood, is a wonder to watch, her performance as authentic and awkward as any teenager.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

These memories help form the foundation of long-term memory, whether they involve a childhood milestone, such as the first day of elementary school, or something that happened just minutes earlier, like parking your car.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

Many of the children’s games in the U.S. originated from Europe, and immigrants carried their ancestral heritage through songs and games, which in turn influenced childhood in the U.S.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Though the Womacks come from a line of West Virginian horse breeders, there was nothing Americana about the childhoods of BG, Zeimani and Kucha.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

As if their unconventional childhoods weren’t troubled enough, Asa and Yuru’s twinship comes with another heavy burden: saving the world.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026

Over one-third of American children and a staggering 53 percent of Black children will be subjected to a child protective services investigation at some point in their childhoods.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

Since her cancer treatment, the princess has often spoken of the value of human contact and connection to help create happy, stable childhoods.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

I doubt that anyone looking at our two childhoods, our circumstances, would ever have predicted we’d land in those halls.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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