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brainchild

American  
[breyn-chahyld] / ˈbreɪnˌtʃaɪld /
Or brain-child,

noun

plural

brainchildren
  1. a product of one's creative work or thought.


brainchild British  
/ ˈbreɪnˌtʃaɪld /

noun

  1. informal an idea or plan produced by creative thought; invention

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of brainchild

First recorded in 1880–85; brain + child

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

To some, it reflected poorly on Rosenior, but it was the brainchild of James himself under influence from former Wigan Warriors rugby league player Willie Isa, who is effectively the squad's mentality coach.

From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026

Headquartered north of Atlanta, Phoenix Air is the brainchild of two brothers, Mark and Dent Thompson.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

It wasn’t until economist Ralph Anspach became entangled in a legal battle with the game maker in the 1970s that the true story and Magie’s brainchild came to light.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026

The app, which has 285,000 users, is the brainchild of attorney and computer scientist Jazz Hampton and his team who created it after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

From Barron's • Feb. 2, 2026

Broken Windows was the brainchild of the criminologists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell