Link Centre Dictionary

changeling

chan·ge·ling

UK/ˈtʃeɪn(d)ʒlɪŋ/ US/ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒlɪŋ/ uncommon archaic informal obsolete rare

noun

1.
2.

a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy

Origin

The noun is derived from change + -ling (suffix with the sense ‘immature; small’). Sense 6 (“idiot, simpleton”) is from the idea that foolish children had been left by magical creatures (sense 1). The adjective is derived from the noun.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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.