n.
Pronunciation: ' ch ī (- ə )ld
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural chil · dren \ ' chil-dr ə n, -d ə rn \
Usage: often attrib
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English cild; akin to Gothic kilthei womb, and perhaps to Sanskrit ja ṭ hara belly
Date: before 12th century
1 a : an unborn or recently born person b dialect : a female infant
2 a : a young person especially between infancy and youth b : a childlike or childish person c : a person not yet of age
3 usually childe \ ' ch ī (- ə )ld \ archaic : a youth of noble birth
4 a : a son or daughter of human parents b : DESCENDANT
5 : one strongly influenced by another or by a place or state of affairs
6 : PRODUCT , RESULT <barbed wire ⋯ is truly a child of the plains ― W. P. Webb>
– child · less \ ' ch ī (- ə )l(d)-l ə s \ adjective
– child · less · ness noun
– with child : PREGNANT