infant

American  

[in-fuhnt] / ˈɪn fənt /

noun

• infants
  plural

1. a child during the earliest period of their life, especially before they can walk; baby.

2. Law. a person who is not of full age, especially one who has not reached the age of 18 years; a minor.

3. a beginner, as in experience or learning; novice.

   The new candidate is a political infant.

4. anything in the first stage of existence or progress.

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adjective

1. of or relating to infants or infancy.

   infant years.

2. being in infancy.

   an infant king.

3. being in the earliest stage.

   an infant industry.

4. of or relating to the legal state of infancy; minor.

infant British  

/ ˈɪnfənt /

noun

1. a child at the earliest stage of its life; baby

2. law another word for minor

3. a young schoolchild, usually under the age of seven

4. a person who is beginning or inexperienced in an activity

5. (modifier)

   1. of or relating to young children or infancy

   2. designed or intended for young children

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adjective

1. in an early stage of development; nascent

   an infant science or industry

2. law of or relating to the legal status of infancy

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• infanthood
  noun
• infantlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• infants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of infant

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin infant- (stem of infāns ) “small child,” literally, “one unable to speak,” equivalent to in- in- ³ + -fāns, present participle of fārī “to speak”; replacing Middle English enfaunt, from Anglo-French, from Latin, as above

Explanation

An infant is a baby. When you were an infant, you weren't able to walk, talk, or feed yourself (but you had a pretty mean burp). Infant is most often used for a very young human, but you can also use it to talk about animal babies. People are considered infants from the moment of birth until approximately one year old, an age when many babies are starting to walk and talk. At this point, they're commonly called toddlers instead of infants. The Latin root is infantem, which as a noun means "babe in arms," and as an adjective "unable to speak."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

infant infants

The warning is based on an analysis of 12 key indicators including infant mortality, mental health, obesity, vaccine rates and asthma.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

This infant, a 6-week-old, was born with a rare genetic condition which made the child more susceptible to dying from measles, Diamantoni said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

On Sunday, the infant swimming resource instructor was swimming along the east shore at Hidden Beach, a secluded public beach within Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park, she posted on social media.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

So, Linney’s Guardian strikes a deal with Bernadette to give John, an infant at this point, a truly fair shot at superheroic greatness.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

I relax a bit, knowing I won’t be living with a screaming infant.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Officials described them to the BBC as infants, although some local reports suggest they are between one and two years old.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

On my boat, a packed, three-deck pleasure cruise otherwise populated by swimsuit-clad tourists and screaming infants, the story was much the same.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

A fire erupted in a hospital maternity ward in Islamabad on Wednesday killing 14 infants, Pakistan authorities said, blaming a faulty air conditioner for the blaze.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

Following the agreements, there are roughly 1,700 lawsuits pending in federal and state courts involving claims on behalf of about 12,700 individual infants, Abbott said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

The experimenters predicted that the infants would look longer at the ball if it had been swapped with another object than if it had been there all along.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• child
• kid
• newborn
• toddler