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child
14 dictionary results for: child
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
child       [chahyld] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural chil·dren.
1.a person between birth and full growth; a boy or girl: books for children.
2.a son or daughter: All my children are married.
3.a baby or infant.
4.a human fetus.
5.a childish person: He's such a child about money.
6.a descendant: a child of an ancient breed.
7.any person or thing regarded as the product or result of particular agencies, influences, etc.: Abstract art is a child of the 20th century.
8.a person regarded as conditioned or marked by a given circumstance, situation, etc.: a child of poverty; a child of famine.
9.British Dialect Archaic. a female infant.
10.Archaic. childe.
11.with child, pregnant: She's with child.

[Origin: bef. 950; ME; OE cild; akin to Goth kilthai womb]

childless, adjective
child·less·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
Child       [chahyld] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.Julia, 1912–2004, U.S. gourmet cook, author, and television personality.
2.Lydia Maria (Francis), 1802–80, U.S. author, abolitionist, and social reformer.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
child       (chīld)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. chil·dren (chĭl'drən)
    1. A person between birth and puberty.
    2. A person who has not attained maturity or the age of legal majority.
    3. An unborn infant; a fetus.
    4. An infant; a baby.
    5. An individual regarded as strongly affected by another or by a specified time, place, or circumstance: a child of nature; a child of the Sixties.
    6. A product or result of something specified: "Times Square is a child of the 20th century" (Richard F. Shepard).
    1. An unborn infant; a fetus.
    2. An infant; a baby.
    3. An individual regarded as strongly affected by another or by a specified time, place, or circumstance: a child of nature; a child of the Sixties.
    4. A product or result of something specified: "Times Square is a child of the 20th century" (Richard F. Shepard).
  1. One who is childish or immature.
  2. A son or daughter; an offspring.
  3. A member of a tribe; descendant: children of Abraham.
    1. An individual regarded as strongly affected by another or by a specified time, place, or circumstance: a child of nature; a child of the Sixties.
    2. A product or result of something specified: "Times Square is a child of the 20th century" (Richard F. Shepard).


[Middle English, from Old English cild.]

child'less adj., child'less·ness n.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Child       (chīld)  Pronunciation Key 
American cookery expert known for her books and her instructional television and video series.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Child, Lydia Maria Francis 1802-1880.  
American abolitionist and writer of novels, children's books, and reform works, such as Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans (1833).

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
child 
O.E. cild "child," from P.Gmc. *kiltham (source of Gothic kilþei "womb"), unrelated to other languages. Also in O.E. meaning "a youth of gentle birth" (archaic, usually written childe). In 16c., especially "girl child." The difficulty with the plural began in O.E., where the nom. pl. was at first cild, identical with the sing., then c.975 pl. form cildru (gen. cildra) arose, only to be re-pluraled c.1175 as children, which is thus a double plural. M.E. plural cildre survives in Lancashire dialect childer and in Childermas (c.1000) "festival of the Holy Innocents" (Dec. 28). Childhood is O.E. cildhad; childish is O.E. cildisc; childlike (a good-sense variant) is first attested 1586.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
child

noun
1. a young person of either sex; "she writes books for children"; "they're just kids"; "'tiddler' is a British term for youngster" 
2. a human offspring (son or daughter) of any age; "they had three children"; "they were able to send their kids to college" [ant: parent
3. an immature childish person; "he remained a child in practical matters as long as he lived"; "stop being a baby!" 
4. a member of a clan or tribe; "the children of Israel" 

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

child

In addition to the idiom beginning with child, also see second childhood.


American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

child (chīld)
n.

  1. A person between birth and puberty.
  2. An unborn infant; a fetus.
  3. An infant; a baby.
  4. One who is childish or immature.
  5. A son or daughter; an offspring.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: child
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural chil·dren
1 : a son or daughter of any age and usually including one formally adopted —compare ISSUE
NOTE: The word child as used in a statute or will is often held to include a stepchild, an illegitimate child, a person for whom one stands in loco parentis, or sometimes a more remote descendant, such as a grandchild. In interpreting the word child as used in a will, the court will try to effectuate the intent of the person who made the will as it can be determined from the language of the will.
2 : a person below an age specified by law : INFANT, MINOR child under 16 years of age> —compare ADULT
NOTE: A person who is below the statutory age but is married will usually be considered an adult.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Child

Child\ (ch[imac]ld), n.; pl. Children (ch[i^]l"dr[e^]n). [AS. cild, pl. cildru; cf. Goth. kil[thorn]ei womb, in-kil[thorn][=o] with child.]

1. A son or a daughter; a male or female descendant, in the first degree; the immediate progeny of human parents; -- in law, legitimate offspring. Used also of animals and plants.

2. A descendant, however remote; -- used esp. in the plural; as, the children of Israel; the children of Edom.

3. One who, by character of practice, shows signs of relationship to, or of the influence of, another; one closely connected with a place, occupation, character, etc.; as, a child of God; a child of the devil; a child of disobedience; a child of toil; a child of the people.

4. A noble youth. See Childe. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

5. A young person of either sex. esp. one between infancy and youth; hence, one who exhibits the characteristics of a very young person, as innocence, obedience, trustfulness, limited understanding, etc.

When I was child. I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. --1. Cor. xii. 11.

6. A female infant. [Obs.]

A boy or a child, I wonder? --Shak.

To be with child, to be pregnant.

Child's play, light work; a trifling contest.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Child

Child\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Childed; p. pr. & vb. n. Childing.] To give birth; to produce young.

This queen Genissa childing died. --Warner.

It chanced within two days they childed both. --Latimer.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Child

This word has considerable latitude of meaning in Scripture. Thus Joseph is called a child at the time when he was probably about sixteen years of age (Gen. 37:3); and Benjamin is so called when he was above thirty years (44:20). Solomon called himself a little child when he came to the kingdom (1 Kings 3:7). The descendants of a man, however remote, are called his children; as, "the children of Edom," "the children of Moab," "the children of Israel." In the earliest times mothers did not wean their children till they were from thirty months to three years old; and the day on which they were weaned was kept as a festival day (Gen. 21:8; Ex. 2:7, 9; 1 Sam. 1:22-24; Matt. 21:16). At the age of five, children began to learn the arts and duties of life under the care of their fathers (Deut. 6:20-25; 11:19). To have a numerous family was regarded as a mark of divine favour (Gen. 11:30; 30:1; 1 Sam. 2:5; 2 Sam. 6:23; Ps. 127:3; 128:3). Figuratively the name is used for those who are ignorant or narrow-minded (Matt. 11:16; Luke 7:32; 1 Cor. 13:11). "When I was a child, I spake as a child." "Brethren, be not children in understanding" (1 Cor. 14:20). "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro" (Eph. 4:14). Children are also spoken of as representing simplicity and humility (Matt. 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17). Believers are "children of light" (Luke 16:8; 1 Thess. 5:5) and "children of obedience" (1 Pet. 1:14).

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