child

Meanings

Noun

• A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).
• One's direct descendant by birth, regardless of age; offspring; a son or daughter.
• The thirteenth Lenormand card.
• A figurative offspring, particularly:
• Alternative of childe
• A subordinate node of a tree.
• A female child, a girl.

Verb

• To give birth; to beget or procreate.

Related

Similar words

• See descendant
• product, son , daughter

Opposite words

• father, mother, parent
• adult
• parent

Origin

• From Middle English child, from Old English ċild ("fetus; female baby; child"), from Proto-Germanic *kelþaz ("womb; fetus"), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt- ("womb"). Cognate with Danish kuld ("brood, litter"), Swedish kull ("brood, litter"), Icelandic kelta, kjalta, Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹 ("womb"), Sanskrit जर्त, जर्तु.
• From Middle English childen, from the noun child.