[child] n, pl chil.dren often attrib [ME, fr. OE cild; akin to Goth kilthei womb, and perh. to Skt jathara belly] (bef. 12c) 1 a: an unborn or recently born person b dial: a female infant
2. a: a young person esp. between infancy and youth b: a childlike or childish person c: a person not yet of age 3 usu childe 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 ~ of the plains --W. P. Webb" -- child.less adj -- child.less.ness n -- with child : pregnant