children
- plural of child.
child
- a person between birth and full growth; a boy or girl: books for children.
- a son or daughter: All my children are married.
- a baby or infant.
- a human fetus.
- a childish person: He's such a child about money.
- a descendant: a child of an ancient breed.
- any person or thing regarded as the product or result of particular agencies, influences, etc.: Abstract art is a child of the 20th century.
- a person regarded as conditioned or marked by a given circumstance, situation, etc.: a child of poverty; a child of famine.
- British Dialect Archaic. a female infant.
- Archaic. childe.
- with child, pregnant: She's with child.
Origin of child
Related Words
infanttoddleradolescentjuvenileyouthteenagerbabykidoffspringminoryoungsterbairnsproutsucklingnewbornlambprogenytyketotimpExamples from the Web for children
Contemporary Examples
Haringey Council told The Daily Beast that the children had not been taken permanently into state care.
We also have a growing body of biological research showing that fathers, like mothers, are hard-wired to care for children.
Indeed, study after study affirms the benefits of involved fatherhood for women and children.
A recent U.S. study found men get a “daddy bonus” —employers seem to like men who have children and their salaries show it.
Children in households with more equitable participation of men show better health and development.
Historical Examples
Again he recurred to his early years, and talked fondly of his wife and children.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
"I must make you acquainted with my wife and children," he said.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
Winter was near and he had no money to buy cloaks for his children.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
They had no children and this settlement assured them a peaceful old age.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
Parents, proceeded she, when children are young, are pleased with every thing they do.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
children
- the plural of child
child
- a boy or girl between birth and puberty
- (as modifier)child labour
- a baby or infant
- an unborn babyRelated prefix: paedo-
- with child another term for pregnant
- a human offspring; a son or daughterRelated adjective: filial
- a childish or immature person
- a member of a family or tribe; descendanta child of Israel
- a person or thing regarded as the product of an influence or environmenta child of nature
- Midland English and Western English dialect a female infant
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for children
n.
plural of child (q.v.)
child
n.
Old English cild "fetus, infant, unborn or newly born person," from Proto-Germanic *kiltham (cf. Gothic kilþei "womb," inkilþo "pregnant;" Danish kuld "children of the same marriage;" Old Swedish kulder "litter;" Old English cildhama "womb," lit. "child-home"); no certain cognates outside Germanic. "App[arently] originally always used in relation to the mother as the 'fruit of the womb'" [Buck]. Also in late Old English, "a youth of gentle birth" (archaic, usually written childe). In 16c.-17c. especially "girl child."
The wider sense "young person before the onset of puberty" developed in late Old English. Phrase with child "pregnant" (late 12c.) retains the original sense. The sense extension from "infant" to "child" also is found in French enfant, Latin infans. Meaning "one's own child; offspring of parents" is from late 12c. (the Old English word was bearn; see bairn). Figurative use from late 14c. Most Indo-European languages use the same word for "a child" and "one's child," though there are exceptions (e.g. Latin liberi/pueri).
The difficulty with the plural began in Old English, where the nominative plural was at first cild, identical with the singular, then c.975 a plural form cildru (genitive cildra) arose, probably for clarity's sake, only to be re-pluraled late 12c. as children, which is thus a double plural. Middle English plural cildre survives in Lancashire dialect childer and in Childermas.
Child abuse is attested by 1963; child-molester from 1950. Child care is from 1915. Child's play, figurative of something easy, is in Chaucer (late 14c.).
child
(chīld)- A person who has not yet reached puberty.
- A son or daughter; an offspring.
- A person not of legal age; a minor.
Idioms and Phrases with children
child
In addition to the idiom beginning with child
, also see
- second childhood
.