childe
/t͡ʃaɪld/
childe noun: a child of noble birth. Also the obsolete form of child.
Noun (1)
childe
- A child of noble birth.
- The cognomen given to the oldest son prior to his taking his father's title.
- Childe Rowland to the dark tower came.
His word was still "Fie, foh, and fum,
I smell the blood of a British man."c. 1607, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 3, scene 4
- Childe Rowland to the dark tower came.
- A vampire who was turned by another vampire (the childe's sire) in a particular way.
- She had waded in blood and reveled in death, she had torn her enemies asunder with shadow and given their childer to the flame.1999, Kathleen Ryan, Clan Novel: Ravnos
- Alexander, the ancient vampire who has ruled Paris for many centuries, has been deposed by his own childe, Sir Geoffrey.2003, Janet Trautvetter, Dark Ages: Toreador, page 5
Proper noun capitalized: Childe
Childe (plural Childes)
- A surname.
Noun (2) capitalized: Childe
Childe (plural not attested)
- A term of address for the eldest son of a lord or for a candidate for knighthood.
- Childe Harold
Also used as
childe is also the obsolete form of child.
Forms of childe
| plural | Childes |
|---|
Origin of childe
From Old English ċild.
Variant of Child.
Titular capitalization of childe.
Phrases with childe
Words that rhyme with childe
Questions about childe
- What does childe mean?
- Childe means a child of noble birth.
- What part of speech is childe?
- Childe can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce childe?
- Childe is pronounced /t͡ʃaɪld/.
Words near childe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: childe (page history and authors); Childe (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:
Cite this entry: “childe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/childe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.