Childer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Young human beings or offspring of parents
2. Young boys and girls considered as a group
3. Boys and girls considered as a group ; the sons and daughters of a particular person or couple

Etymology: "Childer" is the plural of "child" in the old way: it adds the "-er" ending that once marked plurals alongside the more familiar "-en" of "oxen" and "children." Old English "ċildra" and "ċildru" were the genitive plural forms of "ċild," the word for a child, and that genitive ending became a regular plural in Middle English, where it appeared as "childre" and "childer." The word has a strange double plural. In Middle English, "childre" was a plural formed by the "-er" or "-re" ending, but "children" was also in use, and the two competed until "children" won out in standard English. "Childer" survived mainly in dialects, especially in northern England and Scotland, where it is still heard today. Its survival is a reminder that the "-en" plural of "children" was itself a second layer added on top of an older plural, so English had two plural endings on one word for centuries.

Synonyms: children, kids, young ones

Antonyms: adults, elders