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

Etymology

Origin of childhood

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

childhood childhoods

"He had a very difficult childhood," trauma expert Gabor Mate told the BBC this week.

From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026

Cross the moat and enter the Tudor courtyard of Anne’s childhood home and we enter not a “whodunit,” but a “who was she?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Executives had found an unexpected pairing that works: Inviting people to the theme park — a place many associate with childhood and simpler times — to experience the music they grew up listening to.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

She points to research from the University of Cambridge which found that people diagnosed with autism in early childhood often have a different genetic profile to people diagnosed when they are older.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

“You used to help me all the time, my Ace of Hearts. All the experiments we conducted to uncover the nature of our light. We spent our childhood together. That ought to count for something.”

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

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

It also has some surprisingly effective dramatic moments, such as when she confesses to being such a careerist that she missed her kids’ childhoods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

So many people in Village—including Matty—had sad memories of their childhoods.

From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry