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

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

Harley's story had touched him "immensely", he said, describing it as a "tragic situation" in which children have "their childhood taken away".

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

The claw machine—that infamous promiser of childhood treasures, known for stealing your quarters and almost never yielding up its flimsy prizes—has gotten an upgrade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

I had come to the army as an escape from my life—as many men did, I suppose—and though I’d had a complex and rougher childhood than most, I was still virtually unsophisticated.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen

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

Rothwell's role in Coronation Street had been written with him in mind - as the creator Tony Warren had worked with him during their childhoods on BBC Radio's Children's Hour.

From BBC ● May 14, 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