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Changeling - 5 dictionary results

change⋅ling

  [cheynj-ling]
Use Changeling in a Sentence
–noun
1. a child surreptitiously or unintentionally substituted for another.
2. (in folklore) an ugly, stupid, or strange child left by fairies in place of a pretty, charming child.
3. Philately. a postage stamp that, by accident or intention, has been chemically changed in color.
4. Archaic.
a. a renegade or turncoat.
b. an imbecile.
Origin:
1545–55; change + -ling 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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change·ling   (chānj'lĭng)   
n.  
  1. A child secretly exchanged for another.
  2. Archaic A changeable, fickle person.
  3. Archaic A person of deficient intelligence.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Changeling

Change"ling\, n. [Change + -ling.]

1. One who, or that which, is left or taken in the place of another, as a child exchanged by fairies.

Such, men do changelings call, so changed by fairies' theft. --Spenser.

The changeling [a substituted writing] never known. --Shak.

2. A simpleton; an idiot. --Macaulay.

Changelings and fools of heaven, and thence shut out.

Wildly we roam in discontent about. --Dryden.

3. One apt to change; a waverer. "Fickle changelings." --Shak.

Changeling

Change"ling\, a. 1. Taken or left in place of another; changed. "A little changeling boy." --Shak.

2. Given to change; inconstant. [Obs.]

Some are so studiously changeling. --Boyle.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Changeling
Spanish: niño sustituido por otro,
German: der Wechselbalg,
Japanese: 取替え子
More Translations »

changeling

in European folklore, a deformed or imbecilic offspring of fairies or elves substituted by them surreptitiously for a human infant. According to legend, the abducted human children are given to the devil or used to strengthen fairy stock. The return of the original child may be effected by making the changeling laugh or by torturing it; this latter belief was responsible for numerous cases of actual child abuse.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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