Main Entry: child

Pronunciation: \ˈchī(-ə)ld\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural chil·dren \ˈchil-drən, -dərn\

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English cild; akin to Gothic kilthei womb, and perhaps to Sanskrit jaṭhara 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
3usually childe \ˈchī(-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 \ˈchī(-ə)l(d)-ləs\ adjective

— child·less·ness noun

— with child : pregnant