Link Centre Dictionary

child

UK/tʃəɪ̯(ə)ɫd/ US/tʃaɪld/ very common

noun

1.

a young person of either sex

  • “she writes books for children”
  • “they”
  • “;”
  • “is a British term for youngsters”
Synonyms
2.

a human offspring (son or daughter) of any age

  • “they had three children”
  • “they were able to send their kids to college”
Synonyms
Antonyms
3.

an immature childish person

  • “he remained a child in practical matters as long as he lived”
  • “stop being a baby!”
Synonyms
4.

a member of a clan or tribe

  • “the children of Israel”

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • a burnt child dreads the fire
  • abandoned child syndrome
  • adult child
  • barrel child
  • battered child syndrome
  • black child
  • boomerang child
  • butterfly child

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.