infancy
Americannoun
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infancies
plural
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the state or period of being an infant; very early childhood, usually the period before being able to walk; babyhood.
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the corresponding period in the existence of anything; very early stage.
Space science is in its infancy.
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infants collectively.
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Law. the period of life to the age of majority, 21 years at common law but now usually 18; minority; nonage.
noun
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the state or period of being an infant; childhood
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an early stage of growth or development
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infants collectively
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the period of life prior to attaining legal majority (reached at 21 under common law, at 18 by statute); minority nonage
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of infancy
From the Latin word infantia, dating back to 1485–95. See infant, -cy
Explanation
Infancy is the earliest part of a person's life, when they're a baby. It's extremely rare for anyone to remember their own infancy. An amazing amount of growth and development happens during infancy: babies learn to crawl, laugh, and communicate, among many other things. Infancy is vaguely defined, usually including the time from birth to about one year old. You can also use the word to mean "the very beginning of something," so if your lemonade stand is brand new, it's still in its infancy. The word comes from the Latin infantia, "early childhood," and literally, "inability to speak."
Vocabulary lists containing infancy
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.
See Examples For:
Raker’s sister Hattie was buried next to her the following year, the child died in infancy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
But this summer I took a trip back to my old hometown for their Pride festival, a tradition still in its infancy.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The analysis included 502 children who were followed from infancy into middle childhood.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
When she said she worked for Amazon, still in its infancy, Canin advised that she try to get stock options.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
As of 1920, about 13 out of every 100 black children died in infancy, or roughly 20,000 children each year—compared to 28 people who were lynched in a year.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
We drank Diet Coke through grad school, made sure it was well-stocked at our wedding, painfully restricted our intake through two pregnancies, and only survived two sleepless infancies by the grace of DC.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2021
With these programs in their infancies, it’s difficult to determine their effectiveness just yet.
From Slate ● Dec. 19, 2013
Officials in Washington and Boston said that even in their programs’ infancies, they never encountered station failures like New York’s or widespread difficulties with docking.
From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2013
Pincus also invested in Napster, Facebook, Twitter and Friendster, all of which appeared to be risky in their infancies.
From Reuters ● Dec. 11, 2011
A sister, I think, that should have been Elizabeth, died in both our infancies.
From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 Elia and The Last Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
