Child

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /tʃaɪld/

Definitions

1. A person in the early stage of life before becoming an adult; a descendant or offspring in a family line; someone dependent on others for support and nurturing
2. An individual in the early phase of human development prior to maturity ; a son or daughter belonging to particular parents ; a person reliant on caregivers for growth and protection
3. A young human individual who has not reached full maturity ; a son or daughter born to or legally related to particular parents ; a person who requires support and guidance due to youth or inability to live independently

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "child" is that its earliest sense was physical rather than social: the Proto-Germanic root *kelþaz meant "womb" or "fetus." A person was named for the place they came from, not for their age or status. The same root survives in Old Norse-related words that mean "brood" or "litter," such as Danish "kuld" and Swedish "kull," which still describe a group of young born together. Old English "ċild" carried this sense of origin into a word for a newborn or young person. Its Gothic cousin "kilþei" meant "womb," and the family of words also reaches as far as Sanskrit "jarta" and "jártu," which referred to the vulva. English kept the core idea of a young being that emerges from a womb, and over the centuries this narrowed into the everyday term for a young human. The verb "to child," meaning to bear children, came from Middle English "childen," formed directly from the noun. It is a rare survivor of this older usage, showing how closely the word was once tied to birth itself.

Synonyms: kid, youth, youngster, minor, infant

Antonyms: adult, parent, guardian, elder, senior