child
/tʃaɪld/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Canada[tʃəɪ̯(ə)ɫd]
child noun: a person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority). Also the alternative form of childe.
Noun (1)
child (plural children or (dialectal or archaic) childer)
- A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).
- Go easy on him: he is but a child.
- Regular chores can be appropriate for children, given age-appropriate limits on difficulty level and time on task.
- Synonyms:
- kid
- A youth aged 1 to 9 years, whereas neonates are aged 0 to 1 month, infants are aged 1 to 12 months, and adolescents are aged 10 to 20 years.
- One's direct descendant by birth, regardless of age; one's offspring; a son or daughter.
- My youngest child is forty-three this year.
- His adult children visit him yearly.
- Synonyms:
- descendant
- The thirteenth Lenormand card.
- A person considered a product of a place or culture, a member of a tribe or culture, regardless of age.
- the children of Israel
- He is a child of his times.
- Anything derived from or caused by something.
- Poverty, disease, and despair are the children of war.1991, Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
- A data item, process, or object which has a subservient or derivative role relative to another.
- The child node then stores the actual data of the parent node.
- The algorithm pops the stack to obtain a new current node when there are no more children (when it reaches a leaf).2011, John Mongan, Noah Kindler, Eric Giguère, Programming Interviews Exposed
- A subordinate node of a tree.
- An adult or adolescent with childish or stupid behaviors.
- My husband is such a child, going out with his sled everytime it snows.
- A female child, a girl.
- A boy, or a Childe I wonder?c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
Verb
child (third-person singular simple present childs, present participle childing, simple past and past participle childed)
- To give birth; to beget or procreate.
- My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo,
Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue
A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ;
The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue,
The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 17, page 512 - And from his fertill hollow wombe forth ran,
(Clad in rare weedes and ſtrange habiliment)
A Nymph, for age able to goe to man,
An hundreth plants beſide (euen in his ſight)
Childed an hundreth Nymphes, ſo great, ſo dight:[…]1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Eighteenth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […]...
- My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo,
Noun (2) capitalized: Child
Child
- Alternative letter-case form of child often used when referring to God (Jesus) or another important child who is understood from context.
- He appeared as an only begotten Child, as a Child calling us to be children also, and yet with this difference, that He and His Father maintained a holy intimacy with each other which no one dared to share.1906, Record of Christian Work, volume 25, page 861
- This emendation is echoed in Thekla's reunion with Paul outside the city, where she offers the following prayer of thanksgiving: God, King and Blessed Creator of everything, and Father of your great and only begotten Child, I give you thanks.2012, Charles M. Stang, Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite, →ISBN, page 62
Proper noun capitalized: Child
Child
- A surname.
Also used as
child is also the alternative form of childe.
child meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
child in Hindi
- a minor
- बच्चा baccā, बच्ची baccī, शिशु śiśu, बालक bālak, बालिका bālikā
- son or daughter; someone's child
- बच्चा baccā, बेटा beṭā, बेटी beṭī, शिशु śiśu, लड़का laṛkā, लड़की laṛkī
child in Tamil
- son or daughter; someone's child
- குழந்தை kuḻantai, மக maka
child in Marathi
- son or daughter; someone's child
- मूल mūl
child in Urdu
- a minor
- بَچَّہ bacca
- son or daughter; someone's child
- بَچَّہ bacca, بیٹا beṭā, بیٹی beṭī
More languagesFewer languages
- child in Bengali
- বাচ্চা bacca, শিশু śiśu, ওলদ ōlod
- child in Telugu
- పాప pāpa
- child in Malayalam
- കുട്ടി kuṭṭi
- child in Kannada
- ಹಸುಳೆ hasuḷe, ಮಗು magu
- child in Punjabi
- ਬੱਚਾ baccā
- child in Gujarati
- બાળક bāḷka
- child in Odia
- ପିଲା pilā, ଶିଶୁ śiśu
- child in Sanskrit
- शिशु śíśu, बालक bālaka, जात jāta
- child in Sinhala
- ළමයා ḷamayā
- child in Assamese
- ল’ৰা-ছোৱালী löra-süali, কণমানি konmani, অকণি okoni, শিশু xixu
- child in Nepali
- बच्चा baccā
- child in Pashto
- ماشوم māšum, کوچنۍ kučnəy
- child in Tagalog
- bata, anak
- child in Arabic
- طِفْل ṭifl, طِفْلَة ṭifla, عيل ʕayyel, طفل ṭefl
- child in Malay
- budak, anak
- child in Indonesian
- anak, kanak
- child in Persian
- بَچِّه bačče, بَچِه bače, کودَک kudak, بچ
- child in Thai
- ลูก lûuk, เด็ก dèk, ศิศุ sì-sù
- child in Vietnamese
- đứa bé, đứa trẻ, con
- child in Myanmar
- ကလေး ka.le:
- Sindhi
- ٻارُ ḇāru
- Kashmiri
- شُر śur, بَچہٕ bacụ
Examples of child in a sentence
- And not just the children, teenagers too.2003 Powerpuff Girls: 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas (narration)
- He was heir to the ancient wisdom of Israel, a child of Germany, a subject of Great Britain, later an American citizen, but in truth a citizen of the world.1984, Mary Jane Matz, The Many Lives of Otto Kahn: A Biography, page 5:
- Plash-Goo was of the children of the giants, whose sire was Uph.2009, Edward John Moreton Dunsany, Tales of Wonder, page 64:
Synonyms of child
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of child
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | children |
| alternative Southern US pronunciation-spelling | chile |
| alternative form | childrens |
| alternative form | Childe |
| alternative form | Chill |
| plural (archaic, dialectal) | childer |
| alternative form (archaic) | childe |
| alternative form (nonstandard, rare) | childs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | childs |
| present participle | childing |
| past participle | childed |
| past | childed |
Origin of child
From Middle English child, from Old English ċild, from Proto-West Germanic *kilþ, *kelþ, from Proto-Germanic *kelþaz (“womb; fetus”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt- (“womb”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, amass”). Cognate with Danish kuld (“brood, litter”), Swedish kull (“brood, litter”), Icelandic kelta, kjalta (“lap”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹 (kilþei, “womb”), Sanskrit जर्त (jarta), जर्तु (jártu, “vulva”).
From Middle English childen, from the noun child.
Words formed from child
- Childs Hill
- abandoned child syndrome
- a burnt child dreads the fire
- adult child
- antichild
- barrel child
- battered child syndrome
- belchild
- biochild
- birthchild
- black child
- boomerang child
- boychild
- brainchild
- butterfly child
- call someone everything but a child of God
- Chester
- child abuse
- child abuser
- child actor
- childbearer
- child-bearing
- childbearing
- child-bed
- childbed
- child benefit
- child birth
- child-birth
- childbirth
- child bride
- child-bride
- child care
- childcare
- childcarer
- childcaring
- child carrier
- child car seat
- child category
- child-centered
- child-crowing
- child diddler
- child-directed speech
- child endangerment
- child-free
- child-fucker
- childfucker
- child-great
- child groom
- childhood
- childie
- childification
- child-in-law
- childish
- childism
- childkind
- child labor
- child labour
- child language
- childless
- child lifter
Phrases with child
- child bed
- man child
- war child
- child beds
- child lock
- child node
- child porn
- child seat
- home child
- iPad child
- love child
- maid child
108 more phrasesFewer phrases
- moon child
- only child
- wild child
- with child
- wolf child
- child locks
- child nodes
- child seats
- feral child
- glass child
- honey child
- inner child
- minor child
- whole child
- woman child
- child actors
- child brides
- child grooms
- child minder
- Christ Child
- flower child
- foster child
- golden child
- Holy Child I
- Indigo child
- middle child
- poster child
- school child
- single child
- sooner child
- spirit child
- street child
- unborn child
- Velcro child
- child abusers
- child minders
- child neglect
- child prodigy
- child soldier
- child support
- child toucher
- chrisom child
- Holy Child II
- natural child
- problem child
- child carriers
- child diddlers
- child marriage
- child molester
- child soldiers
- CHILD syndrome
- child touchers
- get with child
- got with child
- latchkey child
- password child
- child car seats
- child marriages
- child molesters
- child prodigies
- child restraint
- child sex abuse
- child sex crime
- gets with child
- latch-key child
- snowflake child
- child categories
- child restraints
- child sex crimes
- heavy with child
- child molestation
- child pornography
- child safety seat
- child sex tourism
- child trafficking
- gotten with child
- thalidomide child
- two child problem
- child of the manse
- child prostitution
- child safety seats
- child sexual abuse
- getting with child
- pretermitted child
- sweet summer child
- child of the kitchen
- middle child syndrome
- middle child syndromes
- once a man, twice a child
- child sexual abuse material
- child sexual-abuse material
- once a woman, twice a child
- child sexual abuse materials
- child sexual-abuse materials
- innocent as the child unborn
- once an adult, twice a child
- spare the rod, spoil the child
- the burnt child fears the fire
- once an adult and twice a child
- the burnt child dreads the fire
- spare the rod and spoil the child
- International Day of the Girl Child
- it takes a village to raise a child
- spare the rod and you will spoil the child
- calls someone everything but a child of God
- called someone everything but a child of God
- it is a wise child that knows his own father
- calling someone everything but a child of God
Words that rhyme with child
Questions about child
- What does child mean?
- Child means a person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).
- What is child in Hindi?
- Child in Hindi is बच्चा (baccā), बच्ची (baccī), शिशु (śiśu). See Child meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use child in a sentence?
- And not just the children, teenagers too.
- What part of speech is child?
- Child can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce child?
- Child is pronounced /tʃaɪld/ (UK).
- What is the plural of child?
- The plural of child is children.
Words near child in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: child (page history and authors); Child (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-child.ogg, en-uk-child.ogg.
Cite this entry: “child.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/child. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.