Child
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /tʃaɪld/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Child is a noun meaning (broadly) A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).
Meaning
(broadly) A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).
More Meanings
- (with possessive) One's direct descendant by birth, regardless of age; one's offspring; a son or daughter.
- (cartomancy) The thirteenth Lenormand card.
- (figurative) A figurative offspring, particularly:
- (mathematics, programming) A subordinate node of a tree.
- (figurative) An adult or adolescent with childish or stupid behaviors.
- Alternative form of childe (“youth of noble birth”).
- (obsolete, specifically) A female child, a girl.
Example Sentences
Go easy on him: he is but a child.
His adult children visit him yearly.
My youngest child is forty-three this year.
My husband is such a child, going out with his sled everytime it snows.
Word Forms
- children
- childer
- childe
- chile
- childrens
- childs
- childing
- childed
Synonyms for child
Depending on context, synonyms include progeny, hybrid, descendant, product, son, daughter.
Antonyms for child
Common opposites include father, mother, parent, adult, grownup, girl.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include youngster, baby, girl, tiddler, minor, nipper.
Related Dictionary Tools
Practice “child” in a Crossword
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Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.