infancy

noun in·fan·cy \ ˈin-fən(t)-sē \

|Updated on: 28 Jul 2018

Examples: infancy in a Sentence

Definition of infancy

plural infancies

1 : early childhood

2 : a beginning or early period of existence

3 : the legal status of an infant

See infancy defined for English-language learners

See infancy defined for kids

Examples of infancy in a Sentence

She was often sick during her infancy.
a skill developed in infancy
She has been a member of the church since its infancy.

Recent Examples of infancy from the Web

About four billion years ago, when the planet Earth was still in its infancy, the axis of a black hole about one billion times more massive than the sun happened to be pointing right to where our planet was going to be on September 22, 2017.

— Smithsonian, "Scientists Explain The Thrill of Detecting a Neutrino From a Far-Off Galaxy," 12 July 2018
Research to calculate the value of particular data to an AI service is in its infancy.

— The Economist, "What if people were paid for their data?," 7 July 2018
This technology is still in its infancy, but a handful of companies are trying to bring organ printing into hospitals.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "This Patch of 3D-Printed Flesh Is a Step Toward a Full 3D-Printed Heart," 3 July 2018
When my grandfather Richard Heffner published a collection of pivotal documents from United States history in 1952, Twitter was not yet born and television was in its pre-soundbite infancy.

— alexander heffner, Time, "The American Historical Record Includes Court Cases, Famous Speeches—And Trump’s Tweets. Here’s Why That Matters," 2 July 2018
Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing successfully mated several times over the course of their 20-year tenure in the U.S., but none of their five cubs survived infancy.

— katherine j. wu, Smithsonian, "A Primer on the Zoo’s Possibly Pregnant Giant Panda," 28 June 2018
The change in rules was part of the state's decision to allow the industry in its legal infancy to get a running start at the beginning of the year.

— NBC News, "California pot shops slash prices ahead of new testing rules," 27 June 2018
After being the most dominant franchise in MLS's infancy — winning four league championships in a nine-year span — D.C. United currently sports the league's worst record.

— jim reineking, USA TODAY, "English star Wayne Rooney set for move to D.C. United of Major League Soccer," 27 June 2018
Manuel Pellegrini's time in charge at West Ham is still in its infancy but the Chilean hasn't shied away from challenging some of the club's hierarchy for their decisions in the transfer market this summer.

— SI.com, "Manuel Pellegrini Locks Horns With West Ham Chiefs Just 2 Weeks Into Managerial Reign," 6 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'infancy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of infancy

14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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INFANCY Defined for English Language Learners

infancy

noun

Definition of infancy for English Language Learners

: the first part of a child's life : the time in your life when you are a baby
: a beginning : an early stage of development

INFANCY Defined for Kids

infancy

noun in·fan·cy \ ˈin-fən-sē \

Definition of infancy for Students

plural infancies

1 : the first stage of a child's life : early childhood

2 : a beginning or early period of existence

The program is in its infancy.

Medical Dictionary

infancy

noun in·fan·cy \ ˈin-fən-sē \

medical Definition of infancy

plural infancies

1 : early childhood

2 : the legal status of an infant

Law Dictionary

infancy

noun in·fan·cy \ ˈin-fən-sē \

legal Definition of infancy

plural infancies

1 : the legal status of an infant : minority

2 : the affirmative defense of lacking legal capacity (as to make a contract or commit a crime) because of being too young and especially because one's age is below an age set by statute