Babyism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Childish conduct or an immature way of acting ; the habit of coddling grown people as though they were infants
2. Behavior that is babyish in an adult, marked by silliness or dependence ; a tendency to indulge or infantilize people who should be treated as capable adults
3. A state of acting like a little child well past the years for it ; the practice of pampering or handling mature individuals as if they were helpless babies

Etymology: "Babyism" is a plain formation: the noun "baby" with the suffix "-ism," which in English forms nouns meaning a practice, doctrine, or quality. The suffix itself came into English through Latin and Greek, from the Greek "-ismos" and "-izein," which turned verbs and nouns into terms for behavior or belief, so "babyism" joins a long line of words like "Thatcherism" or "heroism" built the same way. The base word is older and more tangled. "Baby" appears in Middle English as "babe," probably from a nursery-style doubling of "ba" sounds that children make, and it was later reshaped by the diminutive ending "-y." Because "baby" was in use for centuries before the suffix was attached, "babyism" reads as a modern coinage from the familiar noun, not an ancient term.

Synonyms: infantilism, childishness, puerility, immaturity

Antonyms: maturity, adulthood