/ˈtʃɪldr(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈtʃɪldr(ə)n/.childn.
/tʃʌɪld/, U.S. /tʃaɪld//ˈtʃɪldr(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈtʃɪldr(ə)n/.α. Old English chid (as byname, transmission error), Old English cil- (in compounds), Old English cilt (as byname), Old English cit (as byname, transmission error), Old English scild (as byname), Old English (as byname) Middle English– child, Old English–early Middle English cild, Old English (rare)–early Middle English cyld, late Old English cylde- (in compounds), early Middle English kild (as byname), Middle English chelde, Middle English chiȝld, Middle English chijld, Middle English chil, Middle English chilt, Middle English chuld, Middle English chyild, Middle English chyilde, Middle English chyl, Middle English chylld, Middle English cylde, Middle English schlde (probably transmission error), Middle English schyld, Middle English schylde, Middle English 1600s chield, Middle English–1600s chilld, Middle English–1600s chyld, Middle English–1600s chylde, Middle English–1600s (1800s archaic) childe, late Middle English chede (transmission error), 1500s chielde, 1600s chillde, 1800s– chile (Irish English (northern)); English regional (chiefly north-west midlands) 1800s– chilt (Cheshire), 1800s– chylt (Lancashire); U.S. regional (chiefly southern and in African-American usage) 1800s– chile; Scottish pre-1700 chaylde, pre-1700 chyild, pre-1700 chyld, pre-1700 chylde, pre-1700 chyle, pre-1700 schild, pre-1700 schyld, pre-1700 1700s– child, pre-1700 1800s– childe, 1800s– chile (rare). OE Cynewulf Crist II 725 He in binne wæs in cildes hiw claþum bewunden.OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 187 Heo þa gelyfde his wordum & wearð mid cylde.?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 233 He wes lute chilt þoa he hit wrachte.c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1440 Hwat mai þat chil [a1300 Jesus Oxf. child] þah hit misfonge.a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 9557 Ȝyf a chulde be dede bore.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 25959 Þe toþer was a chilld [a1400 Fairf. childe] broght Vnto þe yate o þat cite.1423 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1834) III. 104 Ye nessessary þynges..for ye schyldern of the schapel..every schyld j gowne & j hode.c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) i. l. 239 Thus was it norysshed, this noble goodly chield.1545 in W. Fraser Douglas Bk. (1885) IV. 155 Man, veymen, and chaylde.1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) III. 329 The bludy sicht gart hir pairt wt quick chyild.1641 Lady B. Harley Let. 22 May (1854) 131 It is a most teadious thinge to be sarued by a chillde, without you had other saruants that might healp out his defects.1672 Edinb. Test. LXXIV. f. 209, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Margaret with the schyld in hir bellie.1710 R. Wodrow Analecta (M.C.) I. 317 The child is very promising; he is but six years, and he hath the questions very weel.1794 R. B. Sheridan Duenna (new ed.) ii. 43 As to her singing..she has a shrill crack'd pipe, that sounds for all the world like a child's trumpet.1861 H. A. Jacobs Incidents Life Slave Girl xiii. 113 Lord bless you, chile.1865 B. Brierley Irkdale I. 259 He's nobbut like a chilt in its dadins.1987 C. Reid Tea in China Cup ii, in Plays: One (1997) 46 She has neither chick nor chile of her own. He stands to inherit the lot when she goes.2012 Atlantic Oct. 94/2 Early education should follow a child's interests and initiatives rather than shape them.
β. English regional (south-western) 1800s chiel', 1800s– cheal, 1800s– cheel, 1800s– cheeld, 1800s– chiel, 1800s– chield, 1800s– chill (Devon), 1800s– chul (Cornwall); see also chield n.1860 G. P. R. Pulman Song of Solomon vi. 9 [E. Devonshire] Her's her meuther's saul chiel' an' her dorlin'.1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd I. viii. 104 ‘Their daughter was not at all a pretty chiel at that time,’ said Henery Fray.1892 S. Hewett Peasant Speech Devon 61 I niver did zee sech a cheel as Zacky Arters is.1968 H. Orton & M. F. Wakelin Surv. Eng. Dial. IV. iii. 923 Nowadays many of them [sc. families] have only one..[Somerset, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset] Chiel.1993 K. C. Phillipps Gloss. Cornish Dial. (1998) 25 Chield, child.
2. Plural. a.α. Old English cildo (Northumbrian), Old English cyld (rare), Old English–early Middle English cild, late Old English–early Middle English child, early Middle English chyld, early Middle English cilde, early Middle English cylden (dative), early Middle English cyldum (dative), Middle English childe. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xviii. 15 Afferebant autem ad illum et infantes : gebrohton ða to him æc ða cildo.OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xix. 13 Tunc oblati sunt ei paruuli : þa brohte weron him cild.OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) ii. 16 He..ofsloh ealle þa cild [c1200 Hatton þa chyld] þe on Bethleem wæron.lOE Names of Relationship in N. R. Ker Catal. MSS containing Anglo-Saxon (1957) 433 Cusins parenz, Isibba child.a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) lix. 119 (heading) Be ricere manna cilde [L. de filiabus nobilium] odð unrichi hu me sceall hi underfon.a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) lxiii. 129 Ða child [OE Corpus Cambr. þa cild] & þeo ȝeoȝad mid styre & þeowfæstnesse hyre endebyrdnesse filian.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 11578 Þe childe þat were slayne.
β. Old English cildas (Northumbrian), Old English cildes (Northumbrian), late Middle English chyldes, 1500s (Irish English) 1900s– childs (regional and nonstandard), 1800s childes (in sense 3). OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xix. 13 Tunc oblati sunt ei paruoli : ða gebroht werun him lytla cnæhtas uel cildas.a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xvi. 203 Where so many chyldes Thare balys can not bete.1541 W. Cowley Let. to Lord Deputy 15 Mar. in Jrnl. Kilkenny Archaeol. Soc. (1858) 2 82 He hath many childs and ydlemen, whom he must hitherto have kept to strengthen himself against others.1840 London & Westm. Rev. 33 311 The ballad of ‘The Seven Heads’ relates to the tragical death of the seven infants of Lara. These ‘childes’, the sons of Gonzalo Gustio, had quarrelled with the followers of Dona Lambra, the wife of their uncle Ruy Velasquez.1915 H. Willsie Still Jim xiv. 177 Injuns, they no have many childs. They die. Mexicans they have many childs, they live. Niggers, they have many. They live. Whites they no have many childs.1971 H. Orton & M. V. Barry Surv. Eng. Dial. II. iii. 854 Q[uestion]. In the olden days, families often had up to five or six... [Gloucestershire] Childs.
γ. Old English cilderu, Old English cildra, Old English cildre (rare), Old English cildro (rare), Old English cildru, early Middle English childran (dative), early Middle English childrum (dative), early Middle English cildrum (dative), Middle English chelder, Middle English childir, Middle English childire, Middle English childre, Middle English childur, Middle English childyre, Middle English chulder, Middle English chuldre, Middle English chyldere, Middle English chyldyre, Middle English–1500s childyr, Middle English–1500s chylder, Middle English–1500s chyldre, Middle English–1500s chyldur, Middle English–1500s chyldyr, Middle English–1600s childere, Middle English–1700s (1800s– regional) childer; English regional 1800s– chelder (Cornwall), 1800s– childer, 1800s– childhre (Yorkshire), 1800s– chiller (Somerset), 1800s– chilther (Lancashire); Scottish pre-1700 childar, pre-1700 childere, pre-1700 childir, pre-1700 childre, pre-1700 childyr, pre-1700 chvldyr, pre-1700 chyldir, pre-1700 chyldyr, pre-1700 schylder, pre-1700 1700s– childer, pre-1700 1800s chylder, 1900s– chiller (Aberdeenshire); also Irish English 1700s– childer, 1800s childhre (northern), 1800s– childher, 1800s– childre, 1900s– childther (northern). eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) lxiii. 459 Forðæm ge sint giet cilderu on eowrum geleafan, ðy ic sceal sellan eow giet mioloc drincan.OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xix. 186 Cildru behofiað swiðlicere steore and godre gymene to godum ðeawum.OE Ælfric's Colloquy (1991) 18 Nos pueri rogamus te, magister, ut doceas nos loqui : we cildra biddaþ þe eala lareow þæt þu tæce us sprecan.a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 73 Þa weren monie childre dede fulhtles, & forlorne.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2655 Childre [c1300 Otho children] swiðe hendi.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 715 Fader and breðere and childre and wif. ▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Psalms cxii. 1 Preise, ȝee childer, the Lord.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2707 Toward him com childir thre.?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 91 Techenge the childre.1539 C. Tunstall Serm. Palme Sondaye (1823) 41 Besydes women and chylder.c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) Prol. 7 His propir childir.a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) 3869 All ȝoung childer sould rudlie nureist be In meit and drink.1737 J. Ray Let. 16 Dec. in Amer. Weekly Mercury (1738) 5–12 Oct. 1/1 I shall rejoyce exceedingly, to see you and her hear wee yer Childer.a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 172 Auld Reekie's childer now Maun stap their lugs wi' teats o' woo, Thy sound to bang.1812 B. Hofland Hist. Clergyman's Widow v. 45 Why, zur, what cud her do wi zix childer?1861 E. Waugh Birtle Carter's Tale 31 We're o' God Almighty's childer, mon.1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) Childer, or Childern, var. of ‘children’.1885 Ld. Tennyson Spinster's Sweet-arts xiii, in Tiresias & Other Poems 111 I niver not wish'd fur childer, I hevn't naw likin' fur brats.1930 Farmer's Wife Oct. 167 They's too many women an' childer nowadays a-rippin' an' a-tearin', a-runnin' hither an' yon a-pleasurin' theirselves.1969 K. M. Wells Owl Pen Reader ii. 206 It was their pullet's hope of chick and childer.1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 57/1 Childer, children.
δ. early Middle English childræn, early Middle English cyldren, Middle English cheldern, Middle English cheldren, Middle English childeren, Middle English childeron, Middle English childirren, Middle English childrone, Middle English childyrn, Middle English chilldyren, Middle English chylderyng, Middle English chyldorne, Middle English chyldron, Middle English chyldrone, Middle English chyldryn, Middle English chyldyrn, Middle English chyldyrne, Middle English scheldrene, Middle English schyldern, Middle English schyldryn, Middle English 1600s childrin, Middle English–1500s chelderen, Middle English–1500s chieldren, Middle English–1500s childerne, Middle English–1500s childeryn, Middle English–1500s childrene, Middle English–1500s childrenne, Middle English–1500s childryn, Middle English–1500s chylderen, Middle English–1500s chyldern, Middle English–1500s chylderne, Middle English–1500s chylderyn, Middle English–1600s childern, Middle English–1600s chyldren, Middle English– children, late Middle English chyrdern (probably transmission error), 1500s cheldarne, 1500s cheldringe, 1500s childurne, 1500s chyldearne, 1500s chyldrene, 1500s chyldrynge, 1500s–1600s childron, 1500s–1700s chilldren, 1600s cheldreen, 1600s childring, 1900s– childreen (Irish English); English regional 1800s chillirn, 1800s– cheldern (Cornwall), 1800s– cheldurn (Cornwall), 1800s– childerin, 1800s– childern, 1800s– childun, 1800s– childurn, 1800s– chillern; U.S. regional 1800s child'n, 1800s childring, 1800s childun, 1800s chil'en, 1800s chillern, 1800s chil'ren, 1800s– childern, 1800s– childurn, 1800s– chillun, 1900s– chilern, 1900s– chillen, 1900s– chillurn, 1900s– chirren, 1900s– chuldren; Scottish pre-1700 chayldring, pre-1700 childareine, pre-1700 childerene, pre-1700 childerin, pre-1700 childeryng, pre-1700 childreane, pre-1700 childreene, pre-1700 childrein, pre-1700 childreine, pre-1700 childreing, pre-1700 childrene, pre-1700 childreyn, pre-1700 childreyne, pre-1700 childrin, pre-1700 childrine, pre-1700 childring, pre-1700 childryn, pre-1700 childryne, pre-1700 childryng, pre-1700 chylderein, pre-1700 chyldering, pre-1700 chyldreine, pre-1700 chyldring, pre-1700 schildrange, pre-1700 schildreine, pre-1700 schildreng, pre-1700 schildring, pre-1700 shildrein, pre-1700 shildrin, pre-1700 shildring, pre-1700 shilldrin, pre-1700 1700s childering, pre-1700 1700s– children, 1800s shildren (Shetland). c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 20 Ðæt cydde þe casere þam kynge Archelau, þæs Herodis sune þe þa childræn acwalde.c1200 ( Latin-Old Eng. Gloss. (Bodl. 730) in Eng. Stud. (1981) 62 205/1 Pupilli, stopchildren.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 49 Þet beoð riche men alremest..þe habbeð feire huses, and feire hames, feire wifes, and feire children, feire hors and feire claþes.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 6484 An of þissen children [c1300 Otho childrene].c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 79 Ȝunge childerne.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 8063 Þer ne bileuede of hor children [c1425 Harl. chyldryn] aliue bote on.1484 Rolls of Parl.: Richard III (Electronic ed.) Parl. Jan. 1484 §18. m. 16 Their childeryn unpreferred.1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. ccxv Two hundreth children.1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars 76 The men chylderne wyth the women chylderne.1652 in D. Robertson S. Leith Rec. (1911) 288 That the number of Godis schildreng may growe in ruhteousnes.a1736 in R. A. Hay Geneal. Sainteclaires (1835) 170 The king being altogither preveened by the Earle of Melford, against her and her childering.1824 in N. E. Eliason Tarheel Talk (1956) 308 [North Carolina] Childring.1873 B. Harte Mrs. Skaggs's Husbands 67 Sandy Claws..gives things to chillern,—boys like me.1893 G. E. Dartnell & E. H. Goddard Gloss. Words Wilts. 4 Her's that weak her can't away with the childern at no rate!1898 J. J. H. Burgess Tang 95 The shildren oucht relly to be learned more about their Saviour.1924 E. O'Neill (title of play) All God's chillun got wings.1997 Guardian 23 Apr. (Society section) 9/1 A growing number of children now have to manage a relationship with two stepfamilies.
ε. Middle English childeres, Middle English childres; English regional (Yorkshire and Essex) 1800s– childers; Scottish (Orkney) 1900s– childers; Irish English 1800s– childers. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) 2725 [Þe]os swikes gonne ride hom in-to Rome, and ȝarkede hire ȝiftes and alle hire childres [c1275 Calig. ȝisles].c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. l. 17804 Some men wende the noyce thei herde Hadde ben the kynges childres so ferde For her brother Amphimacus.1839 Poughkeepsie Casket 16 Nov. 126/1 Is this the way you take care of your afflicted wife and seven lawful and suffering childers? Oh! mon, mon.1854 C. Williams Gloss. W. Yorks. Words in Notes & Queries 18 Nov. 400/1 Childers, children.1907 C. M. Gaskell Prose Idyls West Riding 305 I'm left a widower, and I've got seven childers livin'.1971 H. Orton & P. M. Tilling Surv. Eng. Dial. III. iii. 1059 Q[uestion]. In the olden days, families often had up to five or six... [Essex] Childers.1988 G. Lamb Orkney Wordbk. Childer, childers, chieler, children.1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 60/2 [Plural:] childer, childers.
ζ. U.S. regional (southern and south Midland, chiefly in African-American usage) 1800s childerns, 1800s– chilluns, 1900s– childrens. 1853 S. J. Hale Liberia 42 I'm mighty glad to see you again, and Miss Margaret, and the chilluns, and ole missis.1869 XIX Cent. June 81 Den de Lord git mad an bleech Adam an Ebe wite in 'bout too minit 'ahalf, an all de chilluns but Cain tek de same cullur since.1890 J. W. Riley Rhymes of Childhood 18 'Cause all the little childerns there's so straight an' strong an' fine.1928 ‘M. Chapman’ Happy Mountain 14 And girl childrens grown and married and having childrens themselves.1966 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1985) I. 623/1 [Alabama] We used to play with white childrens..all the time.2006 J. L. Miles Cold Rock River viii. 78 How your chilluns be sold and tells about when the freedom come.
b. Genitive.α. Old English cildea (rare), Old English cylda (rare), Old English–early Middle English cilda, late Old English cildæ.
β. Old English cildena (Northumbrian).
γ. Old English cyldra (rare), Old English–early Middle English cildra, late Old English childra, late Old English cildre, Middle English childer, Middle English childur, Middle English chylder, Middle English chyldyr, Middle English–1600s childre, 1500s chillder.
δ. Middle English childern', Middle English childerne, Middle English childrene, Middle English chylderen, Middle English chyldren, Middle English chyldryn, Middle English–1500s children, 1500s childern.
ε. Middle English childirs, Middle English childres, Middle English childris, Middle English chylderys, Middle English chyldrys, 1500s childers, 1700s– childer's (regional); Scottish pre-1700 childeris.
ζ. late Middle English childrenes, late Middle English childrenz, late Middle English–1500s chyldrens, late Middle English– childrens (now nonstandard), 1500s childernes, 1500s– childerns (now regional), 1500s– children's, 1700s– childrens' (nonstandard). No attempt has been made to document ε. and ζ. forms exhaustively later than the 16th cent.; many of the plural forms listed at Forms 2aγ and Forms 2aδ may be found with similar plural endings.
OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 104 Ut eam sociare digneris inter illa cxliiii milia infantum : þætte hia gifoega ðu gmeodumia bituih ðæm feoero & feortigum & hund' ðusenda cildena.OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xxi. 16 Ex ore infantium et lactantium perfecisti laudem : of muðe cildra & sukendra uel diendra þu gefylldæst lof.OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxi. 16 Þu fulfremedest lof of cilda & of sacerda muþe.?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 310 Childre [Scribe B childrene] scole. ▸ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 205 Leste in his elde he schulde falle into children [L. juvenum] hond.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 5549 Þar childer [Trin. Cambr. childre] liues.?a1425 Constit. Masonry (Royal 17 A.i) l. 8 in J. O. Halliwell Early Hist. Freemasonry in Eng. (1844) 12 For these chyldryn sake.c1425 Evangelie (Bodl. Add.) l. 813 in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1915) 30 587 Deed were alle þe childirs fone.1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) vii. x. sig. oviii/1 Also it [sc. epilepsy] hyght childrens euyl [a1398 BL Add. children yuel].a1500 (a1450) Tournam. of Tottenham (Cambr.) (1866) l. 154 It was no childer gamme.1552 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16279) Matrymonye sig. P.viii Theyr chyldrens [1549 childers] children.1578 Gude & Godlie Ballates (1868) 114 Thy childeris children thow sall se.1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 118 What Childre-spell? what May-game have we here?1611 Bible (King James) Matt. xv. 26 The childrens bread [1750 children's].a1704 J. Gother Sincere Christian's Guide (1734) 56 They deceive themselves, and..play seriously at Childrens Game.a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 187 Our cottar childer's..Toil for pease-clods an' gude lang kail.1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. ii. viii. 296 I was sent on the boards in children's parts.1887 H. Caine Son of Hagar III. xvii. 308 There'll be my childer, and my childer's childer.1987 Canad. Heritage (Ottawa, Ont.) Aug. 17/2 If your kids travel with you, they'll often be your entree to meeting local childrens' [sic] parents.2005 Independent on Sunday 30 Oct. (ABC Mag.) 28/2 Rapid scene changes in children's programmes account for their dwindling attention spans. I. With reference to state or age.† 3. A young man of noble or gentle birth. Frequently as a title (either preceding or (in early use) following a proper name), in ballads, etc. Obsolete (archaic in later use).When used by modern writers, commonly distinguished by the archaic spellings chylde or childe.In Old English, use as a title is difficult to distinguish from use as a byname in other senses of the word. Its significance when used as title is uncertain, although the sense ‘young man of noble birth’ has been assumed at least in some cases (see G. Tengvik Old Eng. Bynames (1938) 245). In quot. OE3 the title is perhaps equivalent to atheling n.In the 14th and 15th centuries the word appears to have been applied to a young noble in line for knighthood, e.g. in the romances of Ipomedon, Sir Triamour, Sir Torrent of Portyngale, etc.† 7. Scottish. Nautical. In plural. Low-ranking members of a ship's crew. Obsolete.
1.
a. An unborn or newly born human being; a fetus, an infant.In early use occasionally contextually: a male infant (cf. quot. OE1).The primary sense appears to have been ‘fetus’. When further senses developed, this was often expressed by babe, baby, infant, but child is retained in phrases such as ‘to have a child’; see also with child at Phrases 1, childbirth n., child v., etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > baby or infant > [noun]
childOE
baban?c1225
fauntekin1377
infant1382
babea1393
fauntelet1393
babyc1400
lakinc1440
mop1440
chrisomer1574
tenderling1587
chrisom1596
childling1648
flosculet1648
bratling1652
lullaby-cheat1665
strangera1674
child (also infant, baby) in armsa1675
hoppet1695
tot1725
bambino1761
weanie1786
tiny1797
dot1800
trudgeon1814
toddle1825
toddles1828
yearnling1829
dab1833
toddler1837
baba1841
arrival1846
teeny-tiny1849
toddlekins1852
mite1853
trot1854
babelet1856
nestler1866
spoon-child1868
bubby1885
chavvy1886
bub1889
kiddy1889
toddleskin1890
newborn1893
kidlet1899
kidling1899
bubba1906
bundle of joy1924
liddly1929
mammet1932
snork1941
kiddywink1957
sproglet1987
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > [noun]
bairn830
childOE
foodc1225
whelp?c1225
birtha1325
first-begottenc1384
conceptiona1398
impc1412
heir1413
foddera1425
fryc1480
collop?1518
increase1552
spawn1589
under-bougha1661
prognate1663
chickadee1860
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > embryo or fetus > [noun]
childOE
birtha1325
fruit of the loinsa1340
conceptiona1398
fetusa1398
embryona1400
feture1540
embryo1576
womb-infant1611
Hans-in-kelder1640
geniture1672
shapeling1674
pudding1937
a bun in the oven1951
preborn1980
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) vi. 225 Ealle hi ymbsnidon heora cild on þam eahteoðan dæge & him naman gesceopon.
OE Metrical Charm: For Delayed Birth (Harl. 585) 1 Se wifman, se hire cild afedan ne mæg, gange to gewitenes mannes birgenne and stæppe þonne þriwa ofer þa byrgenne.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) i. 44 Þa fahnude min cild [c1200 Hatton min chyld; L. infans] on minum innoþe.
OE Wulfstan Canons of Edgar (Corpus Cambr.) (1972) xv. 4 Ælc cild sy gefullod binnon xxxvii nihtum.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16297 Þe child i moderr wambe.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke ii. 16 A ȝong child put in a cracche [1526 Tyndale babe layde in a manger].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke i. 41 The ȝonge child [1526 Tyndale babe] in hir wombe gladide.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 162 In þe same ȝere þe qween had childe at Gaunt.
?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 751/2 Hec matrix, a schyn that a schyld ys consevyd in.
1571 in W. Cramond Rec. Elgin (1903) I. 127 Thow ceist ane barrall of makis furth of the weym; thow castis bot kitlyngis and nocht childeryng.
1611 Bible (King James) Lev. xii. 5 If she beare a maid child . View more context for this quotation
1652 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian Enlarged 35 It expelleth the dead childe and the after-birth.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 174 She had once miscarried of a child.
1800 W. Wordsworth Michael 158 A child..Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts.
1827 T. Jarman Powell's Ess. Learning of Devises (ed. 3) II. 325 A child en ventre..is considered as a child in esse, and is entitled under all the circumstances, in which a child then born would be entitled.
1885 ‘H. Conway’ Family Affair I. i. 3 A child still young enough to be passed off as a child in arms.
1913 ‘Sepharial’ Kabala of Numbers II. xii. 189 Suppose..that a child is born when the influence of Venus is predominant.
1967 E. S. Gardner Case of Queenly Contestant (1973) viii. 103 I would keep on working as long as I was able. Then I would go to a home for unwed mothers and have my child.
2011 New Yorker 31 Oct. 36/1 His wife..is expecting their first child.
b. spec. A female infant, a baby girl. Now chiefly English regional (south-western) and Irish English.Formerly more widespread in English regional use in western varieties as far north as Lancashire; now apparently restricted to the south-west.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > girl > [noun]
maiden-childeOE
maidenOE
maidc1275
maid-childc1275
wenchc1290
thernec1300
lassc1325
maidenkinc1330
child-womana1382
girlc1400
pucelle1439
maidkin1440
mawther1440
mop1466
woman-child?1515
bonnea1529
urchina1535
kinchin-mort1567
dandiprat1582
prill1587
sluta1592
little girl1603
maggie1603
tendril1603
squall1607
childa1616
filly1616
vriester1652
miss1668
gilpie1720
lassie1725
laddess1768
jeune fillea1777
bitch1785
girly?1786
gal1795
ladyling1807
missikin1815
colleen1828
girleen1833
snowdrop1833
pinafore1836
chica1843
fillette1847
charity-girl1848
urchiness1852
Mädchen1854
gel1857
pusill1884
backfisch1888
girly-girly1888
cliner1895
tittie1918
weeny1929
bobby-soxer1944
the world > people > person > baby or infant > [noun] > baby girl
childa1616
maid1653
baby girl1758
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iii. iii. 69 A very pretty barne; A boy, or a Childe I wonder? View more context for this quotation
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Child,..4. A girl child.
1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Child, an infant—a son or daughter..a female infant.
c1780 MS Gloss. Devonshire in J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words (1847) Child, a female infant.
1876 Notes & Queries 22 Apr. A country woman [in Shropshire] said to me, apropos of a baby, ‘Is it a lad or a child?’
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Chiel, a female infant... Well, what is it thee-as time, a chiel or a bwoy?
1934 W. W. Gill Manx Dial. II. 32 Is it a boy or a child?
1950 I. Waters Chepstow Talk 11 So Mrs. Smith's got a new baby... Is it a boy or a child?
1979 N. Rogers Wessex Dial. 75/1 Child, still used in its old sense of ‘girl’, and pronounced cheel.
1995 P. O'Keeffe Down Cobbled Streets 15 ‘What is it?’ I said as I turned to follow her. ‘A child,’ she said, ‘another little girl, God bless and preserve her.’
2. † b. A young man; a youth, an adolescent. Obsolete (rare after 16th cent. except in biblical use). Cf. The Song of the Three (Holy) Children at Phrases 4.In plural occasionally: young persons of either sex (cf. quots. c1330, c1626).
a. A young person of either sex, usually one below the age of puberty; a boy or girl.In early use occasionally contextually: a boy (cf. quot. OE1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > [noun]
wenchelc890
childeOE
littleOE
littlingOE
hired-childc1275
smalla1300
brolla1325
innocentc1325
chickc1330
congeonc1330
impc1380
faunt1382
young onec1384
scionc1390
weea1400
birdc1405
chickenc1440
enfaunta1475
small boyc1475
whelp1483
burden1490
little one1509
brat?a1513
younkerkin1528
kitling1541
urchin1556
loneling1579
breed1586
budling1587
pledge?1587
ragazzo1591
simplicity1592
bantling1593
tadpole1594
two-year-old1594
bratcheta1600
lambkin1600
younker1601
dandling1611
buda1616
eyas-musketa1616
dovelinga1618
whelplinga1618
puppet1623
butter printa1625
chit1625
piggy1625
ninnyc1626
youngster1633
fairya1635
lap-child1655
chitterling1675
squeaker1676
cherub1680
kid1690
wean1692
kinchin1699
getlingc1700
totum17..
charity-child1723
small girl1734
poult1739
elfin1748
piggy-wiggy1766
piccaninny1774
suck-thumb18..
teeny1802
olive1803
sprout1813
stumpie1820
sexennarian1821
totty1822
toddle1825
toddles1828
poppet1830
brancher1833
toad1836
toddler1837
ankle-biter1840
yarkera1842
twopenny1844
weeny1844
tottykins1849
toddlekins1852
brattock1858
nipper1859
sprat1860
ninepins1862
angelet1868
tenas man1870
tad1877
tacker1885
chavvy1886
joey1887
toddleskin1890
thumb-sucker1891
littlie1893
peewee1894
tyke1894
che-ild1896
kiddo1896
mother's bairn1896
childling1903
kipper1905
pick1905
small1907
God forbid1909
preadolescent1909
subadolescent1914
toto1914
snookums1919
tweenie1919
problem child1920
squirt1924
trottie1924
tiddler1927
subteen1929
perisher1935
poopsie1937
pre-schooler1937
pre-teen1938
pre-teener1940
juvie1941
sprog1944
pikkie1945
subteenager1947
pre-teenager1948
pint-size1954
saucepan lid1960
rug rat1964
smallie1984
bosom-child-
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xxvii. 222 Him hylpð..þæt him fæt cild æt slape, & þæt he þæt gedo neah his wambe simle.
OE Ælfric's Colloquy (1991) 47 Uinum non est potus puerorum siue stultorum, sed senum et sapientium : win nys drenc cilda ne dysgra ac ealdra & wisra.
OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 344 Se witega cwæð be him þæt heora weorc wæron..gelice..þæra cildra sceotungum þe sceotiað mid reodum on heore geonglicum plegan on heora plegstowe.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Þe Iudeus of Noruuic bohton an Cristen cild beforen Estren & pineden him alle þe ilce pining ðat ure Drihten was pined.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 7 (MED) Þa children ploȝeden in þere strete.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 310 Ancre ne schal naut..turnen ancre hus to childre [Scribe B childrene] scole.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 161 In alle þe gramere scoles of Engelond children leueþ Frensche..and lerneþ an Englische.
c1410 (c1390) G. Chaucer Prioress's Tale (Harl. 7334) (1885) l. 1691 To synge and to rede As smale childer doon.
c1480 (a1400) St. Matthias l. 73 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 224 Þane tuk scho þe chyld priwely & gert fosterit tendyrly.
a1547 Earl of Surrey tr. Virgil Certain Bks. Aenæis (1557) ii. sig. Biv Children, and maides, that holly carolles sang.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. F2v A squirt, or a squibbe, which little children vsed to squirt out water withall.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 201 When I was yet a child, no childish play To me was pleasing. View more context for this quotation
1747 G. Berkeley Tar-water in Plague in Wks. (1871) III. 484 Two children, a boy and a girl.
1797 R. Tyler Algerine Captive I. vii. 70 Small children, sent to school, not to learn, but to keep them out of ‘harm's way’.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 303 A desire to lessen the labour of young children.
1884 E. Whitaker Tip Cat xix. 262 The child was tossing and turning and talking in her sleep.
1937 A. Wynn in J. F. Dobie & M. C. Boatright Straight Texas 231 Among the games played by the children and adolescents were fox-and-the-goose, mumble-peg, jacks, [etc.].
1964 C. Isherwood Single Man 11 The nursery jingle his Nanny taught him when he was a child in England, all those years ago.
2011 Independent 20 Aug. 30/2 As a child, I also recall working in the potato fields.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > youth or young man > [noun]
frumberdlingc1000
young manOE
childc1225
hind1297
pagec1300
youtha1325
fawnc1369
swainc1386
stripling1398
boy1440
springaldc1450
jovencel1490
younkera1522
speara1529
gorrel1530
lad1535
hobbledehoy1540
cockerel1547
waga1556
spring1559
loonc1560
hensure1568
youngster1577
imp1578
pigsney1581
cocklinga1586
demy1589
muchacho1591
shaver1592
snipper-snappera1593
callant1597
spaught1598
stubble boy1598
ghillie1603
codling1612
cuba1616
skippera1616
man-boy1637
sprig1646
callow1651
halflang1660
stubbed boy1683
gossoon1684
gilpie1718
stirraha1722
young lion1792
halfling1794
pubescent1795
young man1810
sixteener1824
señorito1843
tad1845
boysie1846
shaveling1854
ephebe1880
boychick1921
lightie1946
young blood1967
studmuffin1986
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) l. 285 (MED) Þreo children þe chearre nalden from þe lahen..Ananie & Azarie & Misahel inempnet.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 130 Þa þis child was feir muche þa luuede he a maide.
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 217 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 113 Þo þis child was bet in elde and of to and twenti ȝer.
c1330 Horn Child l. 310 in J. Hall King Horn (1901) 182 (MED) Loued neuer childer mare, Bot tristrem or ysoud it ware.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xxxvii. 30 Ruben torned aȝeyn to þe systern: fond not þe chylde [i.e. Joseph aged 17; L. puerum].
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 139 A murye child he was..Wel koude he laten blood and clippe and shaue.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 1522 Well wende he [sc. Narcissus] the forme see Of a child of gret beaute.
c1480 (a1400) St. Martha l. 128 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 288 Rayse this chyld [= a ȝunge mane], þat al ma se!
a1500 Disciplina Clericalis in Western Reserve Univ. Bull. (1919) 22 37 (MED) This yong man with greate labour of his body lived..This chield had a neighburgh [etc.].
1563 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 101 Quhy admit ȝe to be ȝour precheouris..ȝoung childring of na eruditioun.
1611 Bible (King James) Dan. i. 17 As for these foure children [Heb. yĕlāḏīm], God gaue them knowledge and skil. View more context for this quotation
c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1922) II. 323 This Clement..ordaned bischopin of childring..ony time eftir thair pupularie or maioritie.
1762 G. Sharpe 2nd Argument Def. Christianity 34 In our translation it is said..of the young men of Bethel that they were children.
c. More generally: any man without reference to age; a lad, fellow, chap. Frequently used contemptuously or affectionately. Cf. chield n. 2. Now Scottish regional.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun]
churla800
werec900
rinkeOE
wapmanc950
heOE
wyeOE
gomeOE
ledeOE
seggeOE
shalkOE
manOE
carmanlOE
mother bairnc1225
hemea1250
mother sona1250
hind1297
buck1303
mister mana1325
piecec1325
groomc1330
man of mouldc1330
hathela1350
sire1362
malea1382
fellowa1393
guestc1394
sergeant?a1400
tailarda1400
tulka1400
harlotc1405
mother's sona1470
frekea1475
her1488
masculinea1500
gentlemana1513
horse?a1513
mutton?a1513
merchant1549
child1551
dick1553
sorrya1555
knavea1556
dandiprat1556
cove1567
rat1571
manling1573
bird1575
stone-horse1580
loona1586
shaver1592
slave1592
copemate1593
tit1594
dog1597
hima1599
prick1598
dingle-dangle1605
jade1608
dildoa1616
Roger1631
Johnny1648
boy1651
cod1653
cully1676
son of a bitch1697
cull1698
feller1699
chap1704
buff1708
son of a gun1708
buffer1749
codger1750
Mr1753
he-man1758
fella1778
gilla1790
gloak1795
joker1811
gory1819
covey1821
chappie1822
Charley1825
hombre1832
brother-man1839
rooster1840
blokie1841
hoss1843
Joe1846
guy1847
plug1848
chal1851
rye1851
omee1859
bloke1861
guffin1862
gadgie1865
mug1865
kerel1873
stiff1882
snoozer1884
geezer1885
josser1886
dude1895
gazabo1896
jasper1896
prairie dog1897
sport1897
crow-eater1899
papa1903
gink1906
stud1909
scout1912
head1913
beezer1914
jeff1917
pisser1918
bimbo1919
bozo1920
gee1921
mush1936
rye mush1936
basher1942
okie1943
mugger1945
cat1946
ou1949
tess1952
oke1970
bra1974
muzhik1993
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Oii The false & malicious circumuertions of craftie chyldren.
1575 J. Awdely Fraternitye of Vacabondes (new ed.) sig. A3v A Curtesy man..This child can behaue him selfe manerly.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 373 Al maist was na nuik, na hole, in Scotland, or ony place meit quhair sik childre [sc. factious men] mycht meit, quhair commounlie thai mett not.
a1605 R. Bannatyne Memorials Trans. Scotl. (1836) 11 Lat thea childer want the heidis, which sall make yow quite of thair cummer.
1638 Earl of Strafford Let. 28 July (1739) II. 187 They [sc. the Scots] are shrewd Children, not won much by Courtship.
1732 J. Hutchinson Treat. Power 147 What a forward Child he was, who in a Year and a half, formed this mighty Work.
1934 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Grey Granite ii. 113 She'll be able to sin as she likes and go free, with no need to marry the gallus childe.
1986 C. Mackay Song of Forest 67 Now the master must have been a right brave childe, and he didna take kindly at all to Death walking round scaring folk.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > [noun] > noble person or man > noble child
childOE
infant1590
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > title or form of address for persons of rank > [noun] > for a youth
childOE
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1009 Brihtric Eadrices broðor ealdormannes forwregde Wulfnoð cild [L. (Domitian A.viii) quendam nobilem [u]irum nomine Wlnoðum] to þam cyninge.
OE Marriage Agreement between Godwine & Brihtric (Sawyer 1461) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 150 Ælfsige cild, & Eadmer æt Burham, & Godwine Wulfstanes sunu.
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1075 Eadgar cild com of Fleminga lande into Scotlande.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 6484 Wulc an of þissen children heo mihten habben to kinge.
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Laud) (1901) l. 119 (MED) Ofte hauede horn child be wo, Bute neuere werse þan þo.
c1330 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Auch.) (1937) l. 134 (MED) Hende childer..Child Amiloun & child Amis.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1822 Oþer cherl oþer child.
c1410 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 123 To whom he ordeyned child Gilbert [L. Gylbertem comitem] to be tutour.
a1450 York Plays (1885) 276 (MED) Be he churle or childe.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Knychthede (1993) iv. 27 Quhen a childe is maid knycht he thinkis nocht on the poyntis of the ordre yat he sueris to kepe.
a1500 (?c1400) Sir Triamour (Cambr.) (1937) l. 741 And Tryamowre rode hym ageyn, Thogh he were mekyll man of mayne, The chylde broght hym downe!
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. ii. vi. 149 Than was in rome ane nobill childe..namyt Caius Mutius.
1553 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Eneados vi. v. 55 Anchyses get, heynd childe [v.r. heynd, kynd] curtes and gude.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. ii. sig. Aa7v Chyld Tristram prayd, that he with him might goe. View more context for this quotation
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xi. 168 Child Rowland, to the darke towne come. View more context for this quotation
?a1700 Child of Ell ii, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1882) I. i. vii. 103/2 Till he haue slaine the Child of Ell.
1765 T. Percy Reliques (1823) III. 315 Child is frequently used by our old writers, as a title. It is repeatedly given to Prince Arthur in the Faerie Queen.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. iv. 5 Worse than adversity the Childe befell.
a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) I. 267 The pious Childe began to sing.
1883 H. Pyle Merry Adventures Robin Hood ii. iii. 70 Among them all, both great and small, A good stout knight was there, A lusty childe, and eke a tall, That loved a lady fair.
4. † a. A pupil at a school, esp. a charity school. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > charity school pupil
childOE
blue coat boy1609
blue coat1619
poor child1626
blue boy1649
blue coat girl1695
blue1803
OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 104 Pedagogus, cilda hyrde uel lareow.
OE Monasteriales Indicia (1996) v. 22 Ðæs magistres taccen is þe þa cild bewat, þæt man set his twegen fingras on his twa eagan.
c1175 (?OE) Writ of Brother Edwin (Sawyer 1428) in S. Miller Charters of New Minster, Winchester (2001) 164 Ic Eadwine munuk cilda mæstere an Niwan mynstre grete þe wel Ælfsige biscop.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 205 Þat litel book of metre..þat children lerneþ in scole.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 5881 Maysters som tyme uses þe wand Þat has childir to lere under þair hand.
1518 J. Colet Stat. Paulinae Scholae in J. H. Lupton Life Colet (1887) 276 All the Children in the scole knelyng in theyr Settes.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 76 Alle the men chylderne wyth the women chylderne..that perteynyd unto the howse of the powre [sc. Christ's Hospital].
c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1877) II. 80 Betwene euery xx children [of Christ's Hospital] [there was] one woman keeper.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. x. 65 Charter-house-Hospitall..Children not yet come to, and Old men already past helping of themselves, have in this Hospitall their souls and bodies provided for.
1706 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1885) I. 216 [They] were all poor Children, Taberders and afterwards Fellows of Queen's College.
1720 J. Strype Stow's Surv. of London (rev. ed.) I. i. xxv. 166/1 If any Child admitted here, go to any other School to learn there, such Child for no Man's Suit be again received into the School.
1810 Minute-bk. of Mill Hill School Regul. for Dom. Superint... His attention shall be directed to the Morals and Conduct of the Boys..before and after School hours. He shall not suffer the children to pass beyond the Bounds prescribed, etc.
b. spec. A boy chorister.The name is still retained at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > laity > lay functionaries > chorister > [noun]
songereOE
childOE
clergionc1325
choristerc1360
chanterc1384
quirera1425
choirman1488
singing man1527
clerk1549
chorista1552
songman1599
singing boy1666
sing-man1691
white boy1691
white man1691
choirist1773
secular1786
chorister-boy1817
choirboy1843
OE Regularis Concordia (Corpus Cambr.) in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1890) 84 4 Æfter þysum þa[m] cildon [L. pueris] þisne antifen beginnendum, Pueri Hebreorum, syn þa palmtwiga todælede.
OE Regularis Concordia (Tiber.) (1993) xxxvii. 76 Demum pueri dexteriores [read dexterioris] chori repetant quę supra, eodem modo : þænne nehst cild swiþran chores edlæcean þa ufran þam sylfan gemete.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Prioress's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 67 He Alma redemptoris herde synge As children lerned hir Antiphoner.
1492 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 74 Item euery chylde wt a surplyce j d.
?a1527 in Regulations & Establishm. Househ. Earl of Northumberland (1905) 40 Gentyllmen and Childryn of the Chapell.
1534 in J. L. Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford (1882) 41 New surplecs for the childern.
1566 G. Turberville Poems (title of poem) Epitaph on Maister Edwards, sometime Maister of the Children of the Chappell.
1603 H. Chettle Englands Mourning Garment (new ed.) sig. F Children of the Chappell in surplesses.
1685 Form of Proceeding Coronation James II (single sheet) The Children of the Chapel, Four a-Breast.
a1717 in E. F. Rimbault Old Cheque-bk. Chapel Royal (1872) 28 Dr. William Croft (as Master of the Children).
1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music at Master of Song To teach the children of the chapel-royal to sing, and to perform the organ.
1887 Daily Tel. 8 Apr. Mr. C. S. Jekyll, organist and composer to her Majesty's Chapel Royal, and musical instructor of the children.
1982 G. R. Elton et al. Tudor Rule & Revol. 50 He was probably the father of the more famous William Cornysh junior, master of the children in the Chapel Royal during the earlier years of Henry VIII's reign.
2004 Times (Nexis) 3 Apr. 31 The choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal is composed of six Gentlemen-in-Ordinary and ten children of the Chapel.
5.
a. A person who has (or is considered to have) the character, manners, or attainments of a child, usually with negative connotations; an immature, irresponsible, or childish person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [noun] > childlikeness > person
childeOE
the mind > mental capacity > belief > suggestion, proposal > [noun] > person affected by suggestion, etc.
childc1384
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) lxiii. 459 Forðæm ge sint giet cilderu [L. tamquam parvulis] on eowrum geleafan, ðy ic sceal sellan eow giet mioloc drincan, nalles flæsc etan.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxxiv. 471 Ne beo ge cild on andgite, ac on yfelnyssum, beoð on andgite fullfremede.
a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 3 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 159 (MED) Wel longe ich habbe child ibon a worde and a dede.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xiv. 20 Britheren, nyle ȝe be maad children [L. pueri] in wittis.
?1435 in C. L. Kingsford Chrons. London (1905) 44 (MED) Childeryn that have lordship in the Rewme.
1526 W. Tyndale 1 Cor. xiv. 20 Brethren be not chyldren in witte.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) f. 24 He was a childe amonge children.
1615 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Cupids Revenge ii. sig. D3v We men are children in our Carriages, compard with women.
1678 J. Dryden All for Love iv. 46 Men are but Children of a larger growth.
1771 Hibernian Mag. Oct. 523/1 ‘You are a child,’ said Blandford to her; ‘you ought to have told me all’.
1850 Ld. Tennyson Princess (ed. 3) ii. 29 Your language proves you still the child.
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. ix. 576 The French, always treated as children, are, in political matters, children still.
1914 Smart Set Nov. 135/2 Arnold, like most men, was a child when it came to sympathy.
1963 Times 4 Mar. 11/4 I am a child in these matters, but I cannot but observe that since the collapse of the negotiations (Brussels) my modest portfolio..has increased in value.
2006 P. A. Ross Spell Cast by Remains i. 34 He is a child in matters of the flesh but a master in controlling the ring.
b. As a form of address, used either contemptuously or affectionately.
ΚΠ
OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) x. 24 Ða forhtodon his leorningcnihtas be his wordum; eft se Hælend him andswariende cwæð, eala, cild [L. filioli], swyðe earfoðlice þa ðe on heora feo getruwigeað gað on godes rice.
lOE St. Nicholas (Corpus Cambr.) (1997) 88 Se bisceop cwæð þa to him: Cum nu, leofa cild, hider mid me, forþon þe ic hæbbe sum þing digeles wið þe to specone.
1594 (a1555) D. Lindsay Hist. Squyer Meldrum l. 297 in Wks. (1931) I. 154 Maister Talbart said: My gude chyld, It wer maist lyk that thow wer wyld. Thow ar to ȝoung, and hes no micht To fecht with me.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 410 Come recreant, come thou childe, Ile whippe thee with a rodde. View more context for this quotation
1677 A. Behn Rover v. 80 We'l have no Vows but Love, Child, nor witness but the Lover.
1751 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 397 Lady Stafford used to say to her sister, ‘Well, child, I have come without my wit to-day;’ that is, she had not taken her opium.
1774 Dialogue between Southern Delegate & Spouse 7 Good Lord! how magnanimous! I fear Child thou'rt drunk.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam vi. 7 Poor child, that waitest for thy love! View more context for this quotation
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam lxvii. 94 They call'd me fool, they call'd me child . View more context for this quotation
1950 D. Cusack Morning Sacrifice in 3 Austral. Three-act Plays ii. ii. 232 Child, are you so blind to responsibilities?
2001 K. Roberts July 328 ‘Come, child, let's go to my place and have a cup of tea’.
6. A young person (in early use esp. a boy or young man) in service; an attendant; a page. Cf. child-woman n. at Compounds 1b. Now only in historical contexts.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > [noun] > boy or lad
page1348
childc1384
pedee1642
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds iv. 25 By the mouth of oure fadir Dauith, thi child.
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 2952 (MED) On Chastelayne, a childe of þe kynges chambyre, Was warde to sir Wawayn.
c1475 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 39 (MED) No man shall drawe in any office in this courte any chylde or servaunt, but he be come of clene byrthe.
1478 Will of Ralph Verney in J. Bruce Verney Papers (1853) 28 I bequethe to John Jakke, child of my kichen, xs.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Sam. ix. 10 Saul sayde vnto his childe: Thou hast well spoken.
1555 Will in A. R. Maddison Lincs. Wills, 1500–1600 (1888) 46 To Henry Scott ‘sometyme my childe iijs. iiijd.’
1610 Househ. Prince Hen. in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (1790) 336 Noe childe, page, scowrer, or turnebroach, to marry.
1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) 539 (The Queens Officers and Servants) Scullery..Yeoman..Joint Grooms..Page..Servant..Child.
1757 Court & City Reg. 101/2 Master Cook, Joseph Harpe Reynold, 80 l. Yeoman, Charles Brexton, 50 l. Groom, Mr Weston, 40 l. Children, Rob. Brattle.
1798 J. Archer Inaugural Diss. Cynanche Trachealis ii. 43 I saw the servant child of Mr. S— L—. She had been, for two days, observed to have a wheezing, difficult respiration.
1858 M. F. Tupper Stephan Langton II. x. 88 Two nameless stable-boys and a female scullery-child, who made themselves generally useful about the Braiose establishment.
1983 M. O'Donoghue Jedder's Land 355 ‘No-one else has a cheel like her.’ Emma was wailing. ‘All we want is a nice lil' maid’.
ΚΠ
1445 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 13 Twa of the ballieis..hes resauit in to saafgarde..Roger Yhong, Inglisman, and his childer.
1548 in A. I. Cameron Sc. Corr. Mary of Lorraine (1927) 267 I am appunctit with the master of the saidis schip and childer, that..I sall have.., for the bottisman and his met thre pond stirling.
1565 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 333 That Scottis skipparis and thair childir sall obey to the Conservatour.
c1600 in J. Balfour Practicks (1754) 615 Quhen ane master is readie with his ship to depart … , and thair is sum of his childer auchtand silver in the town or countrey quhair thay ar [etc.].
8. South African. In plural. Also with capital initials. Young, black, left-wing political activists during the anti-apartheid struggle of the 1970s and 1980s. Cf. comrade n. Additions. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > African politics > [noun] > South African politics > young black activist
child1978
comrade1979
1978 Time 26 June 21 ‘The Children’, as they had come to be called, decreed a two-day general strike..so that Sowetans could gather in churches to honor the dead with hymns extolling black power.
1980 E. Joubert Poppie Nongena 314 The children didn't stop with burning down schools and administration buildings and beer halls. They got bolder. The older ones called themselves the Comrades and told the adults: Your time is past: When we speak, you must listen.
1987 Learn & Teach No. 5. 15 In my day the bosses and their friends were stronger than us... The children today are strong. They are making history like we did.
2005 G. Kynoch We are Fighting World 150 It would happen that when I quarrel with my wife and beat her she would go to the street committee, who would call the children, who would beat me.
II. As correlative to parent.
9.
a. A son or daughter (at any age); the offspring of human parents. Also as a form of address.In Old English bearn bairn n. is more common in this sense.Traditionally used more frequently (and longer) of a girl than a boy (Shakespeare nowhere uses ‘my child’ of or to a son, but frequently of or to a daughter). This is possibly connected with the use in 1b (compare also quots. 1541 and a1592), but is perhaps more due to the facts that girl has a wider range of application than boy, and that daughters were formerly more dependent on parental protection.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > [noun] > progeny or offspring
bairn-teamc885
childeOE
tudderc897
seedOE
teamOE
wastum971
offspringOE
i-cundeOE
fostera1175
i-streonc1175
strainc1175
brooda1300
begetc1300
barm-teamc1315
issuea1325
progenyc1330
fruit of the loinsa1340
bowel1382
young onec1384
suita1387
engendrurea1400
fruitinga1400
geta1400
birth?a1425
porturec1425
progenityc1450
bodyfauntc1460
generation1477
fryc1480
enfantement1483
infantment1483
blood issue1535
propagation1536
offspring1548
race1549
family?1552
increase1552
breed1574
begetting1611
sperm1641
bed1832
fruitage1850
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) l. 391 We eac wiernað urum cildum urra peninga mid to plegianne, ðæm ilcum ðe we eft tiochiað..ure ierfe eall ætsomne to te forlætanne.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) v. 218 Rachel beweop hire cildru, & nolde beon gefrefrod.
OE Royal Charter: William I to Bp. William, Gosfrith the Portreeve, & Burghers of London in D. Bates Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum (1998) 593 Ic wylle þæt ælc cyld beo his fæder yrfnume æfter his fæder dæge.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 49 Þet beoð riche men alremest..þe habbeð feire huses, and feire hames, feire wifes, and feire children.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 715 Fader and breðere and childre and wif.
a1450 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Tanner) (1879) l. 901 Ye wrecched Ielouse fadres oure we that weren whilom children youre we preyen you [etc.].
?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 74 So mylde, So xulde childyr to fadyr and modyr.
1482 W. Cely Let. 20 Aug. in Cely Lett. (1975) 170 Wyffe, chyldern and goodes.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Coloss. iii. 20 Children [c1384 Wycliffite, E.V. Sones] obey youre fathers and mothers in all thinges.
1541 M. Coverdale tr. H. Bullinger Olde Fayth sig. D.viiiv There can also none be a father, except he haue a sonne or a chylde.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) Prol. 7 Ane ordinance til excerse his propir childir.
a1592 R. Greene Sc. Hist. Iames IV (1598) v. sig. I3v Hob your sonne, and Sib your nutbrowne childe, Are Gentle folkes.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxi. 67 I thinke this Ladie To be my child Cordelia. View more context for this quotation
1664 J. Wilson Cheats v. v. 79 O my Child, my Child—Thy father is prettie hoddie again, but this will break his heart quite.
1699 J. Potter Archæologiæ Græcæ II. iv. xv. 378 Parents were allow'd to be reconcil'd to their Children, but after that could never abdicate them again.
1700 T. Brown Amusem. Serious & Comical x. 124 Many Citizens Wives, had hard Hearts, Undutiful Husbands, and Disobedient Children.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 796 (note) The children of a white and quinteroon consider themselves as free from all taint of the negro race.
1822 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 26 Jan. 1/3 ‘My child,’ said Dorothy..‘Here comes a soldier down the hill!’ The word revived Ellen: she flew to her mother's side.
1841 R. W. Emerson Self-reliance in Ess. 1st Ser. (London ed.) 67 Is the parent better than the child into whom he has cast his ripened being?
1881 M. E. Herbert Edith 6 Indifferent to everything but his child's beauty and vocal talents.
1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 55/3 (advt.) It's hard to picture your child of seven at the age of seventy.
1982 R. Sheppard & M. Valpy National Deal vii. 157 The only way assimilated francophones outside Quebec could be guaranteed their child's education in French.
2011 N.Y. Mag. 28 Nov. 18/1 Just another spoiled, aimless child of rich, successful parents chauffeured through adulthood by Mommy and Daddy's connections.
b. The young of an animal. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > family unit > [noun] > offspring or young
kindle?c1225
kitlinga1300
child1340
chita1382
birda1398
younga1398
kitten1495
baby1659
piccaninny1824
kit1957
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 224 (MED) Þe elifans nele naȝt wonye mid his wyue þerhuyle þet hi is mid childe.
c1450 MS Douce 52 in Festschrift zum XII. Neuphilologentage (1906) 54 (MED) Childe is pigge, and fader is the flicche.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. vi. sig. F3 A Lyonesse.., did lowd requere Her children deare.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 145 Her Children gone, The Mother Nightingale laments. View more context for this quotation
1757 London Mag. Jan. 30/1 It [sc. the cuckoo] puts its child to nurse, only because it is not so formed by nature as to be able to nurse it itself.
1837 J. C. Maitland Let. 31 Oct. in Lett. from Madras (1846) xiii. 58 I was told that ‘a cat had run away with a child.’ I was horror-struck..but..I found the child was nothing but a young pigeon.
1900 R. Kipling Just So Stories (1902) 63 There was one Elephant..—an Elephant's Child—who was full of 'satiable curtiosity, and that means he asked ever so many questions.
1969 K. M. Wells Owl Pen Reader ii. 206 It was their pullet's hope of chick and childer, their dream of love and spring song.
10. Esp. in biblical use: a disciple of a teacher; a person in a similar relationship to this. Usually with possessive or of. Chiefly in plural.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > [noun] > disciple
discipleeOE
followereOE
childOE
scholara1425
lererc1440
discipless1611
acolyte1623
chela1834
OE Ælfric 2nd Let. to Wulfstan (Corpus Cambr.) in B. Fehr Die Hirtenbriefe Ælfrics (1914) 176 Ic secge eow.., þæt ge sceolan læran cnapan and geonge men eow to fultume.., na eower agene cild.., ac þa ælfremedan, þæt hy eowre cild beon þurh þa gastlican lare.
c1400 (?c1384) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 374 (MED) Freris..maken dissencioun bitwix curatis and hor gostly childer.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1300 Þe..prophetes childer.
c1480 (a1400) St. Machor l. 1114 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 32 My childere dere, þis demand..Is a demawnd without profit.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 John ii. 1 My lytell children [Gk. τεκνία μου], these thynges write I vnto you, that ye synne not.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Kings ix. 1 Eliseus the prophet called one of the prophetes children [Heb. bĕnē hannĕḇī'īm].
1568 Bible (Bishops') John xxi. 5 Children [Gk. παιδία], haue ye any meate?
1688 J. Dryden tr. D. Bouhours Life St. Francis Xavier iv. 335 Prefering to be receiv'd amongst the Children of Ignatius.
1719 J. Chamberlayne tr. G. Brandt Hist. Reformation iv. 323 Some of his Children or Disciples esteem'd his Writings above those of the Holy Pen-men.
1853 F. D. Maurice Prophets & Kings Old Test. ix. 139 The phrase ‘children of the prophets’..indicates men who were taught by a prophet.
1893 Jewish Q. Rev. 5 407 Take not a strange woman that is not of thy father's tribe for a wife, for we are the children of prophets Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
1911 Irish Monthly July 397 Catherine put into execution what had been long the darling desire of her heart, by clothing herself in the habit of the children of St. Dominic.
1998 Independent (Nexis) 2 Nov. All human beings are the children of Prophet Adam.
2006 BBC Worldwide Monitoring (Nexis) 8 Feb. ‘The Muslims have shown themselves to be true children of their Prophet. I regret that the Orthodox are so sluggish about encroachments on their own holy places,’ the Zavtra chief editor says.
11. In plural. Esp. in biblical and derived uses: descendants; members of the tribe or clan. Children of Israel n. = Israel n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinship group > tribe > [noun] > members of tribe
childrenc1175
tribesfolk1888
tribespeople1888
tribal1958
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > descendant > [noun] > collectively
bairn-teamc885
kinc950
seedOE
teamOE
offspringOE
kindOE
childrenc1175
lineage1303
generationa1325
issuea1325
successiona1340
kindredc1350
progenya1382
posterityc1410
sequelc1440
ligneea1450
posterior1509
genealogy1513
propagation1536
racea1547
postery1548
after-spring1583
bowela1593
afterworld1594
loin1608
descendance1617
succession1618
proles1640
descent1667
ramage1936
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9274 We sinndenn habrahamess streon & habrahamess chilldre.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Exod. iii. 14 Þus þou schalt say to þe children of yrael [L. filiis Israhel].
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 684 (MED) He [sc. Abraham] is chosen to be chef chyldryn fader.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 121 Canaan is a region of Syria [MS Siria], possessede firste of the childre of Canaan [L. filiis Canaan].
a1525 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 245 About the tyme that the childer of Israell war in the desert.
1611 Bible (King James) Judges iv. 6 Ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali. View more context for this quotation
1641 W. Hooke New Englands Teares 6 A right Edomitish quality; for Edom rejoiced over the children of Judah, etc.
1704 R. Nelson Compan. Festivals & Fasts i. ii. 26 There was to be no more Distinction betwixt the Children of Abraham and other People, and no one Land more pecularized [sic] than another.
1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. iii. 72 Moses and Aaron were to assure Pharaoh that God sent them, and they were in his Name to demand Liberty for the Children of Israel.
1794 J. L. Buchanan Def. Scots Highlanders 262 To these [lands] the son of the chieftain, with the children or Clans of the vassals and lower-tenantry was sent.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 127 A Helot feeling, compounded of awe and hatred, is..discernible in the children of the vanquished.
1870 W. H. Dixon Free Russia lxiii. 336 The Turkish tribes are children of Mohammed, the Mongolian tribes are children of Buddha.
1929 Economica 25 99 Persecuted on all sides by Presbyterians under Cromwell, by Anglicans under Charles II, by Dissenters under the children of the Pilgrim Fathers, the Quakers ultimately won.
1988 J. L. Esposito Islam i. 4 Muslims, like Christians and Jews are the Children of Abraham.
2003 Church Times 28 Mar. 13/3 Even the childish and grumbly children of Israel instantly spotted what God was up to, but not Nicodemus.
12. A person who inherits and hands on the spiritual or moral tradition of another. Usually with possessive or of.
ΚΠ
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9864 Þatt flocc iss..abrahamess chilldre Þatt follȝheþþ abrahamess sloþ. Inn alle kinne gode.
c1400 (?c1384) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 386 Freris also ben Scarioths childre, bitrayinge trew men..for money.
a1500 (a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 351 Þes ben cayms childire.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Acts xiii. A O thou childe of the deuell [Gk. υἱὲ διαβόλου]..and enemye of all righteousnes.
1601 W. Perkins True Gaine 7 The papists of our time are the children of the old pharisies.
1700 W. Sherlock Serm. upon Several Occasions 6 The children of Abraham, by Faith in Christ.
1745 J. White 2nd Let. to Gentleman dissenting from Church of Eng. 30 We find, Sir,..your Ministers valuing themselves for being the Children and Followers of the old Puritans.
1802 J. Bowles Let. C. J. Fox on Death Duke Bedford Bristol Sel. Pamphlets 5 It will be understood that the political children only of Mr. Fox are left to lament the loss.
1888 Daily News 7 Sept. 5/2 The children of Izaak Walton have multiplied beyond all reckoning..and river fishing has been falling off.
1966 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 365 132/1 The ‘Children of Kennedy’, come of age, have now lost both of their founding fathers: Kennedy and Shriver.
2009 New Yorker 27 Apr. 69/3 ‘The children of Poe’ is what Stephen King calls the members of his guild, and with good reason. But horror stories predate Poe, and have many other sources.
13. Theology. Esp. in Child of God. A person considered as belonging to God, either by creation, or by regeneration or adoption.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > soul > regeneration > [noun] > person
Child of Goda1200
regenerate?1551
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xix. 326 We men sind Godes bearn for þan ðe he us geworhte, & eft þa ða we forwyrhte wæron he asende his agen bearn us to alysednysse.]
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 19 Alle men ben godes children, for þat he hem alle shop, and ches hem to sunes and to dohtres.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 170 Hwen god ȝef him leaue on [his] leoue children.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 6148 Commes now til me, My fadir blissed childer fre.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Civ The christen man, as the welbyloued chylde of god.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Confirmacion f. ix*v In my Baptisme, wherein I was made a member of Christe, the childe of God.
1645 E. Pagitt Heresiogr. 33 Huttites, who boast themselves to be the only children of God, and heirs of heaven.
a1656 Bp. J. Hall Shaking of Olive-tree (1660) ii. 144 Which way should I become the child of God?
1758 J. Wesley Let. 6 Jan. (1931) III. 245 He evidences our being justified by bearing His testimony with our spirits that we are the children of God, and by enabling us to bring forth first the inward and then the outward fruits of the Spirit.
1796 S. T. Coleridge Compl. Poet. Wks. (1912) 153 O Lord! to thee I bend... Thy overshadowing Spirit may descend, And he be born again, a child of God.
1845 R. C. Trench Fitness Holy Script. iv. 75 Marvellously does He thus run oftentimes the lives of his children parallel with the life of the Church at large.
1850 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1878) 1st Ser. iv. 54 Man is God's child, and the sin of the man consists in perpetually living as if it were false.
1951 M. L. King in R. E. Luker & P. A. Russell Papers of Martin Luther King Jr. (1992) 424 Man may be described as the child of two parents: God, the formative agent in the process, and ‘meonic freedom’, the passive stuff which simply ‘consented’ to God's creative act.
2010 Church Times 12 Nov. 8/4 The Dean hoped that ‘conversion could be at hand, in which we recognize liberals and conservatives, Tea Partiers and socialists, libertarians and every one else, as fellow children of God.’
14. figurative. Expressing origin, association, natural relation, or characteristic: the offspring or product of a particular place, time, event, circumstance, influence, etc.
a. Referring to a person.Formerly frequently in biblical use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > [noun] > expressing origin or attachment to place, time, etc.
childa1325
piccaninny1653
pick1905
the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun] > that which originates from something else > and is shaped by circumstances of origination
childa1325
progeny1526
OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) xii. 36 Þa hwile þe ge leoht habbon gelyfað on leoht þæt ge syn leohtes bearn.]
a1325 (?c1300) in Anniv. Papers Kittredge (1913) 109 (MED) Wel auȝte ȝe..To crist ȝour herte al ȝyue, As dude þe chyldren of þolde lawe.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) John xii. 36 That ȝe be the children of liȝt [c1384 E.V. sones of liȝt; L. filii lucis].
c1450 ( Nightingale (Calig.) l. 311 in O. Glauning Minor Poems J. Lydgate (1900) 12 (MED) Childre of confusioun.
a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. Clxxx We all be borne the chylder of ire, as saynt Paule sayth.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Kings vi. 32 This childe of murthure.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost i. i. 168 This childe of Fancie that Armado hight. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Judges vi. 3 The children of the East. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. vii. 96 Be a Child o' th' time. View more context for this quotation
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 59 The..voice of truth and all her children.
1740 E. Smith Forty Two Serm. I. vii. 130 Who are so much obliged as the Children of Light to..verify their holy Ties and Obligations, by a continual Regardfulness, never knowingly to offend him who is their Maker.
1752 W. Kenrick Parodi-tragi-comical Satire i. 5 Here a poor Birth-strangled Babe, Ditch-deliver'd by a Drab; Child of Poverty and Spleen, Mother Midnight's Magazine.
c1800 W. Wordsworth To Young Lady i Dear child of nature.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vii. §3. 369 Elizabeth..was a child of the Italian Renascence.
1886 F. Harrison Choice Bks. 193 Thomas Carlyle..is in spirit a child of the great Revolution.
1988 C. Ozick Primo Levi's Suicide Note in Metaphor & Memory (1989) 38 We are the children of mercy and will not allow the suffering to recede into mere past-ness.
2011 Fortean Times Mar. 49 Matt Salusbury concludes his nostalgic look at forteana for the children of the 1970s.
b. Referring to a thing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun] > that which originates from something else
daughtereOE
outcasting1340
impc1380
childa1398
outgrowing?a1425
proventc1451
provenuec1487
excrescency1545
sprig1575
procedure?1577
proceed1578
derivative1593
offspring1596
superfetation1603
excression1610
shootc1610
excretion1615
slip1627
excrescence1633
derivation1641
derivate1660
offshoot1801
offtracta1806
deduction1835
outgrowth1837
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iv. vi. 147 Þe humoures beþ iclepid þe children of þe elementis, for eueriche of þe humours comeþ of qualite of elementis.
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 35 What children of good werkis þou schalt brynge forþ..þei schulen be to vs children of purchace legal and leful and no bastard braunchis.
a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Bodl. e Mus.) f. 56 (MED) Howe the philosophers childe in the aire is borne.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iv. 97 Dreames, Which are the Children of an idle braine. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. iii. 116 This Noble passion Childe of integrity. View more context for this quotation
1661 O. Felltham Resolves (rev. ed.) 72 When Mischief is the child of Mirth.
1704 J. Swift Full Acct. Battel between Bks. in Tale of Tub 229 War is the Child of Pride, and Pride the Daughter of Riches.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. p. xl Oaths are the Children of Fashion, they are in some sense almost Annuals.
1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey III. v. i. 13 Experience is the child of Thought.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iii. 56 Baser courses, children of despair.
1918 W. G. Bleyer Profession of Journalism 114 The Associated Press is the child of the first effort at cooperative news-gathering ever made.
1998 Science 2 Jan. 37/2 Genome informatics is a child of the information age, a status that brings clear advantages and new hurdles.
15. Computing. In a tree or other hierarchical structure: a node which is immediately subordinate to another node. Cf. parent n. 6.
ΚΠ
1984 P. H. Winston Artific. Intelligence (ed. 2) iv. 89 It is common to talk about trees using terms borrowed from genealogy. Branches directly connect parents with children.
1994 Internet World Jan. 30/2 KnowBots that seek information and even spawn children (subordinate programs, a.k.a. ‘child processes’) to do subsearches.
2007 C. Moock Ess. ActionScript 3.0 xviii. 360 Note that there is no direct way to access the root node relative to any child.
16. Childbirth, childbearing. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [noun] > childbirth or delivery
teamOE
childinga1275
birtha1325
childc1330
deliverancea1375
childbearinga1400
kindlinga1400
birth-bearingc1426
forthbringing1429
childbirth?a1450
parturitya1450
bearinga1500
delivery1548
parture1588
infantment1597
puerpery1602
exclusion1646
parturition1646
venter1657
outbirth1691
clecking1815
parturience1822
birthing1928
natural childbirth1933
c1330 Gregorius (Auch.) (1914) l. 175 (MED) Þe þridde day of [= after] hire childe To chirche sche ȝede.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11204 (MED) Sco was at hir time o child.
?1500 Robert the Deuyll sig. Aiiiiv Yf good prayers had not ben..she had deyed of chylde.
Phrases
P1. with child.† b. In extended use, of ground, trees, ships with swelling sails, etc. Obsolete.
a. Pregnant. Hence to get with child, to go with child. Cf. to beget with child at beget v. Phrases.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [adjective]
greatc1175
with childc1175
with childc1300
baggeda1400
bounda1400
pregnant?a1425
quicka1450
greaterc1480
heavyc1480
teeming1530
great-bellied1533
big1535
boundenc1540
impregnate1540
great-wombeda1550
young with child1566
gravid1598
pregnate1598
pagled1599
enceinte1602
child-great1605
conceived1637
big-bellieda1646
brooding1667
in the (also a) family way1688
in the (also that) way1741
undelivered1799
ensient1818
enwombeda1822
in a delicate condition1827
gestant1851
in pod1890
up the (also a) pole1918
in a particular condition1922
preg?1927
in the spud line1937
up the spout1937
preggy1938
up the stick1941
preggers1942
in pig1945
primigravid1949
preggo1951
in a certain condition1958
gestating1961
up the creek1961
in the (pudding) cluba1966
gravidated-
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > be pregnant [verb (intransitive)]
goOE
to go with childc1300
baga1400
gravidate1623
breed1629
(to be) in an interesting condition1748
gestate1883
expect1906
infanticipate1934
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 187 Heo þa gelyfde his wordum & wearð mid cylde.
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxxviii. 25 Be þam men ic eom mid cylde, ðe þysne hring ah.]
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) l. 135 Þe mayde was wid childe[c1275 Calig. Þeo wimon was mid childe].
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 57 Whet sorewe hit is wiþ childe gon.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2605 Agar was made wit child.
1480 Cronicles Eng. (Caxton) ccxlviii. sig. u8 She said that she was with childe.
a1525 G. Myll Spectakle of Luf in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 285 With quhom he conversit sa that scho wox with child.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 562/2 I get a wenche with chylde, je engrosse.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. iv. 9 And the child I go with do miscarry.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) i. ii. 71 For getting Madam Iulietta with childe . View more context for this quotation
1651 Bp. J. Taylor Rule of Holy Living (1727) iv. 327 Women great with child.
1701 G. Farquhar Sir Harry Wildair i. 10 In the matter of five Days he got six Nuns with Child, and left 'em to provide for their Heretick Bastards.
1742 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Antiq. Rome i, in tr. A. Palladio Architecture (ed. 3) II. 59 Sylvia being soon after got with child.
1765 J. Memis Midwife's Pocket Compan. iii. i. 197 If a miscarriage happens when a woman has been long gone with child..the danger is great.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 29 Such doubts and fears were common to her state, Being with child.
1896 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 25 202 If his wife is with child, he will not enter the mud pits.
1933 ‘N. West’ Miss Lonelyhearts 100 Instead of pulling the Russian by recommending suicide, you ought to get the lady with child and increase the potential circulation of the paper.
2007 Harper's Mag. Sept. 61/3 I went to work, going for the favorites first, Kit Kats and Butterfingers, filling my tucked-in shirt until I looked eight months gone with child.
ΚΠ
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. l. 70 With risshis, reed, gras..also go hit [sc. good land] with childe.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 105 In the spring, all trees are as it were with childe.
1606 C. Marlowe & G. Chapman Hero & Leander iii All her fleet of spirits came swelling in, With child of Sail.
1664 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Wks. xxiv. 184 It is water impregnated or got with childe of a sharp volatile salt.
c. figurative (a) Full (of a thing) so as to be ready to burst; teeming; = big adj. 6b; (b) eager, longing, yearning (to do something).Now only in historical contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > longing or yearning > [adjective]
oflongedOE
alonged?a1300
longinga1425
with child1548
yearning1596
wishfula1616
greening1637
tantalized1660
with twins1768
the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > [adjective] > full > full to bursting
big?1541
with child1548
swelling1594
pent1597
bursten?1624
strutted1648
burstened1697
stretcheda1711
bursting1847
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xxiii. f. 8 The man had of long tyme been with chylde to haue a sight of Iesus.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. v. sig. D7v The noble hart, that..is with childe of glorious great intent.
1594 R. Carew tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne v. 225 Their countnance mery, and their eyes with child Of ioy.
1606 G. Chapman Gentleman Vsher iv. sig. G The Asse is great with child of some ill newes.
1660 S. Pepys Diary 14 May (1970) I. 138 I sent my boy—who, like myself, is with child to see any strange thing.
1660 S. Pepys Diary 9 Oct. (1970) I. 262 I went to my Lord... And saw..his picture..and am with child till I get it copyed out.
1725 N. Bailey tr. Erasmus All Familiar Colloquies 264 I'm with Child to hear it.
1832 J. Constable Lett. (1966) IV. 366 I am with child to see Salisbury.
1970 P. O'Brian Master & Commander (new ed.) 317 ‘I know those gunboats were trying to lead us into some sort of trap,’ said Jack, ‘and am with child to know what it was.’
P2. In proverbs and proverbial phrases. the child unborn: the type of innocence or ignorance, etc.the burnt child dreads the fire: see burnt adj. 3b. children should be seen and not heard: see see v. 1a.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Homily: De Doctrina Apostolica (Hatton 115) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 623 Eft cwæð sum witega, Puer centum annorum maledictus erit: Hundteontigwintre cild byð awyrged.
a1300 in Englische Studien (1900) 31 9 (MED) I-seli child is sone ilered.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. clxxv. 1067 Houndes and children hateþ þe ȝerde, for þey ben þerwiþ chastysede.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 1820 Brent child of fier hath mych drede.
1545 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Prouerbes (new ed.) f. lxii Oure common prouerbe..Chyldren, drunkers, and fooles, can not lye.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. vii. sig. K Many kysse the childe for the nurces sake.
1547 Duke of Norfolk in J. Lingard Hist. Eng. (1855) V. iii. 103/1 Nor can [I] no more judge..what should be laid to my charge, than the child that was born this night.
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie sig. Biiv As the Prouerbe is, Senex bis puer. An olde manne, twyse a chyld.
1765 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VIII. xxviii. 124 She knows no more..of it..than the child unborn.
1827 C. Lamb Let. June in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1935) III. 90 You will have discharged your conscience, and laid the child at the right door, as they say.
1948 E. Partridge Words at War, Words at Peace 46 The Welsh express a universal truth in ‘A child in the house is a hundred enjoyments’.
2007 Victorian Stud. 49 591 Children should not be protected from self-endangerment..because only ‘the burnt child dreads the fire’.
P3. from (also †fro, †of) a child or children, †of a child little: from childhood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > [adverb] > from childhood
from (also fro, of) a child or childrenc1384
from the tender nail1603
of a child little1656
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Macc. xv. 12 Onye..whiche was excersisid..in vertues fro a chijld [L. a puero].
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 1876 (MED) Sho..had him noryscht of a childe.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Mark ix. f. lvijv Howe longe is it a goo, sens this hath happened hym? And he sayde, of a chylde [Gk. ἐκ παιδιόθεν].
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xxix. C He that delicately bryngeth vp his seruaunt from a childe.
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Tim. iii. 15 From a childe [Gk. ἀπὸ βρέϕους] thou hast knowen the holy Scriptures. View more context for this quotation
1656 J. Trapp Comm. Eph. vi. 11 Coriolanus had so used his weapons of a child little.
1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 5 Sharp as a Street bred Boy must be, but ignorant and unteachable from a Child.
1761 F. Sheridan Mem. Miss Sidney Bidulph I. 8 It was our continual practice, from children, to keep little journals.
1825 W. Hazlitt Spirit of Age 424 We have known him almost from a child, and we must say he appears to us the same boy-poet that he ever was.
1922 J. Galsworthy Forsyte Saga (1926) I. ii. 35 He had no hope of shaking her resolution; she was as obstinate as a mule, always had been from a child.
2008 J. Benford Silence & Tears 140 ‘How is young Ralph Parker,’ she asked the doctor; a kindly man she had known from a child.
P4. The Song of the Three (Holy) Children: (the traditional name for) a poem found in the Septuagint (and hence Vulgate) version of the book of Daniel, called the Benedicite in the Book of Common Prayer.
ΚΠ
c1400 Comm. on Canticles (Bodl. 288) in T. Arnold Sel. Eng. Wks. J. Wyclif (1871) III. 71 Þis song of þes children, where we maken an opin schrift þat God is passingli blessid.]
1534 Prymer in Eng. M.iijv (title) The songe of the thre chyldren.
1611 Bible (King James) Song Three Children (title) The Song of the three holy children, which followeth in the third chapter of Daniel.
1703 M. Chudleigh (title) Poems on several occasions. Together with the song of the three children paraphras'd.
1879 Marquis of Bute tr. Rom. Breviary I. 373/2 Let us sing the Song of the Three Children, * even the Song that they sang when they blessed the Lord in the burning fiery furnace.
1976 R. Hammer Bk. Daniel 42 At this point the Septuagint inserts the Song of the Three Children.
2011 L. M. McDonald Origin of Bible iv. 99 The Song of the Three Holy Children was added to Daniel.
P5. colloquial. this child: (esp. in African-American usage) oneself; I, me.Now only in historical contexts.
ΚΠ
1839 New World 26 Oct. 4/7 ‘You knows you can' shine whar dis child is no how’.
a1848 G. F. Ruxton Life in Far West (1849) p. xiii This child has felt like going West for many a month.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. vi. 73 ‘Be careful of the horses, Sam..don't ride them too fast’... ‘Let dis child alone for dat!’ said Sam.
1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 74 From the sixties..not for this child.
1930 C. Wittke Tambo & Bones 169 De debble kotch ye, shoa! but bress de lam', he habn't kotch dis child yet!
1994 R. Hendrickson Happy Trails 54 Mountain men and others often called themselves ‘child’ in the early West. ‘This child's getting old.’
Compounds
C1. Compounds with child.
a.
(a) General attributive, with the sense ‘of or relating to children’, ‘child's’, ‘children's’, or (sometimes) ‘childish’.† child-cheek n. Obsolete rare
child art n.
ΚΠ
1860 Ladies' Repository Sept. 545/1 That he had some prophetic idea of what would be the manhood of his child-art is proved from his sacrifice of self and pelf, so proverbial of all true artists.
1945 H. Read Coat of Many Colours xix. 101 Folk-art is merely child-art which has become adult.
1966 Guardian 22 Apr. 6/5 Matchstick men—taught by adults, copied by infants—can be death to child art.
2010 G. J. Daichendt Artist Teacher i. iii. 54 The importance of child art, the invention of finger paints.., and the modernist movement all played factors in the self-expressive atmosphere.
child brain n.
ΚΠ
a1833 A. H. Hallam Remains in Verse & Prose (1834) 10 It minds me of that famous Arab tale (First to expand the struggling notions Of my child-brain) in which the bold poor man Was checked for lack of ‘Open sesame’.
1904 Daily Chron. 21 May 4/5 My child-brain, clear and natural, could not swallow the impossibilities administered to me as facts.
1993 R. Dawkins in Devil's Chaplain (2003) iii. 129 It is no wonder that child brains are gullible, open to almost any suggestion, vulnerable to subversion, easy prey to Moonies, Scientologists and nuns.
ΚΠ
1844 E. B. Browning Lost Bower in Poems (1850) II. 239 The child-cheek blushing scarlet.
1906 W. D. Howells & H. M. Alden Heart Childhood 3 The same soft glow suffuses it and the child-cheek against which it is laid.
child culture n.
ΚΠ
1862 Mothers' Jrnl. 27 198 The great art in child-culture is to keep the little ones happy.
1899 M. Beerbohm Around Theatres (1924) I. 87 The modern system of child-culture..is the system of treating children as decoration.
1999 Ethnology 38 97 Messages children received from their peers differ from those received from adults. The gap between child culture and adult culture is inevitable.
child face n.
ΚΠ
1832 J. G. Whittier in C. Fiske Bates Cambr. Bk. Poetry & Song 641/1 Still memory to a gray-haired man That sweet child-face is showing.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 23 Dec. 2/1 A child-face glowing with more radiant happiness we have never seen.
1986 W. Gibson Burning Chrome 177 Her pretty childface smooth as steel.
childkind n.
ΚΠ
1828 Q. Rev. 37 402 What would mankind, or womankind, or childkind think.
1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 5 Mar. H1 Requiring stations to increase the number of pro-social, pro-health messages they televise, would certainly be one giant step for childkind.
2010 Pet Connection (Nexis) 26 Aug. A whole slew of obviously deep and burning questions appeared in a column below mine..presumably the most common questions posed by Mankind (and also Womankind, Childkind).
child language n.
ΚΠ
1858 tr. C. F. D. Schubart in Dwight's Jrnl. Music 17 July 126/1 C major, is entirely pure. Its character is that of innocence, simplicity, naïveté, child-language.
1956 R. Jakobson & M. Halle Fund. of Lang. 42 Mellow constrictives, opposed to strident constrictives, or strident plosives (affricates) opposed to mellow plosives (stops proper) do not appear in child language before the emergence of the first liquid.
2011 Reading Res. Q. 46 254/2 A set of parent report inventories of child language and communication designed to yield information on the course of language development.
child literature n.
ΚΠ
1853 Southern Literary Messenger Jan. 255/1 Child-Literature has been neglected too much by the fine gentlemen—the beaux esprits—of the literary profession.
1884 Mag. of Art Feb. 133/2 The child-literature of the last generation.
2006 Libraries & Culture 41 143 Writers indulged themselves in an out pouring of child literature, seemingly more for adults than children, as an expression of a state of mind.
child marriage n.
ΚΠ
1848 C. Pickering U.S. Exploring Exped.: Races of Man xiii. 258 I remarked among them various evidence of Persian descent, as in the custom of child marriages.
1894 F. J. Furnivall (title) Child-marriages, divorces, and ratifications, &c.
1933 Lancet 22 Apr. 886/2 Legislation for the prevention of child marriage [in India].
2008 D. H. Gray Muslim Women on Move iv. 78 This marriage was contracted before the Prophet received revelations concerning marriage, though there are no explicit verses in the Qur'an proscribing child marriage.
child mind n.
ΚΠ
1848 J. B. Stallo Philos. of Nature i. 144 The individual is the perennial child-man and child-mind.
1906 Daily Chron. 8 Sept. 3/2 In order to interest the child-mind, the subject is treated so as to focus attention on the marvellous intricacies of Nature.
2006 M. Thomson Psychol. Subj. iv. 133 Such accounts are invariably those of adults looking back: the adult's view of the child mind.
child murder n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > killing of type of person > [noun] > of infants
infanticide1656
child murder1729
tecnoctonia1842
neonaticide1969
1729 Weekly Jrnl. 5 July A woman is brought from Fife and committed to the Tolbooth here, in order to be try'd for the unnatural Crime of Child-Murder.
1845 T. Chitty Burn's Justice of Peace (ed. 29) I. 612 The offence of child-murder.
1951 W. Lewis Rotting Hill iv. 159 The newspapers have been splashing it as if it were a child-murder by an erotic homicide.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Oct. 28/2 The details of one particular case of child murder which had long since disappeared into one of history's interstices.
child nature n.
ΚΠ
1840 Educ. Mag. 2 249 They ground education, not upon the communicable humanity of Jesus, but upon a human and child nature.
1874 W. B. Carpenter Princ. Mental Physiol. i. viii Teacher Ignorant of the fundamental facts of child-nature.
1913 A. Holmes Princ. Char. Making xii. 315 Child-nature is neither plastic like this, nor is it flinty rock to be chipped into shape like the granite of a sculptor.
2005 Social Scientist 33 1 Rousseau was of the view that child nature was intrinsically good.
child poverty n.
ΚΠ
1905 Manch. Guardian 3 Aug. 6/2 The modern problems of child poverty.
1986 J. Mitchell in J. Mitchell & A. Oakley What is Feminism? 38 To compare our inner cities, and child poverty and abuse with Dickensian England, seems at first sight preposterous and vulgarly polemical.
2007 Independent 29 Oct. 36/2 I look forward to seeing how the Government boneheads will fulfil their pledge to eradicate child poverty.
child prostitution n.
ΚΠ
1885 Newcastle Weekly Courant 30 Jan. There was a large increase of child prostitution just about the season of the Christmas pantomimes.
1961 Population Stud. 15 46 Local committees set out to fight against such evils as child prostitution by compelling enforcement of the new legislation.
2004 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. (Nexis) 21 Jan. (Ideas section) 13 Child prostitution is a growing problem, especially in the Third World.
child sacrifice n.
ΚΠ
1794 R. Hurd Life Warburton in Bp. W. Warburton Wks. (1811) VI. 355 Micah..understood the true Origin, and consequently, the right import of Child-sacrifice.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 3 Baal and Ashtaroth, with all their abominations of consecrated child-sacrifices.
1923 W. Crafer Bk. Hosea 58 Some see in the whole passage a reference to child-sacrifice, as the sin directly responsible for the punishment.
2006 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 19 Oct. 38/1 The immigrants..engage in ritual murder and child sacrifice in addition to the usual menu of rum-running and alien-smuggling.
child slavery n.
ΚΠ
1833 Age 28 Apr. 134/3 When will an ‘Anti-Infant Slavery Association’ be established, for promoting the ‘immediate abolition’ of child-slavery in the British factories?
1925 Catholic Hist. Rev. 11 71 A harvest of child murder and child slavery.
2001 Rotarian Apr. 3/1 A human rights meeting in South Africa revealed a burgeoning traffic in child slavery.
child-smile n.
ΚΠ
1838 D. G. Osborne Granta (ed. 2) ccxiv. 108 No child smile recognition in her face.
1850 E. B. Browning Poems (new ed.) II. 216 To erase the child-smile from her lips.
2006 S. Virgo Begging Questions 61 With delight and energy, her clear eyes and child-smile discounting altogether the lascivious motions of her hips.
child spirit n.
ΚΠ
1841 Tait's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 684/1 As they alight, the Earth, now new-born child-spirit, advances to them.
1883 H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spiritual World (ed. 2) 271 The condition of entrance into the spiritual kingdom is to possess the child-spirit.
1992 C. P. Estés Women who run with Wolves v. 151 If you could lay your eyes upon the most..unpitying person alive, during sleep..you would see in them for a moment the untainted child spirit.
child suffering n.
ΚΠ
1889 N. Amer. Rev. June 708 Nature and Religion recognize the sadness of child suffering.
1923 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 June 954/1 Even to the casual observer a vast amount of child suffering is apparent.
2003 Internat. Rev. Educ. 49 207 Even in relatively prosperous countries, there is increasing awareness of child suffering and unhappiness.
child voice n.
ΚΠ
1843 M. Howitt Love & Money iv. 48 The carol-singers went of an evening from house to house, singing, in their pleasant child voices.
1898 T. Watts-Dunton Aylwin i. §2 Into my very being that child-voice passed.
1944 E. Sitwell Song of Cold 31 Lest I hear your child-voice crying.
2008 M. G. Neuman Truth about Cheating 124 Your child voice has been around a longer time and began when you were a young, malleable person.
child-word n.
ΚΠ
1848 E. Oakes Smith Salamander xvi. 134 The child-word, forgive, is beautiful from mortal lips, and touches even angelic hearts.
1947 Mod. Lang. Rev. 42 354 The transition from the child-word to the conventional word.
1999 Dialectical Anthropol. 24 282 At no point did she speak the word holocaust..but the childword for me..in the dialect of where they came from.
child world n.
ΚΠ
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 414 The child-World's mayden Monarchie.
1856 J. G. Whittier Brewing of Soma viii As in that child-world's early year.
1991 R. A. Jamieson Day at Office 29 Imagining her as she was then, huge and centrally placed in his child world.
(b) Appositive.† child-noble n. Obsolete rare
child actor n.
ΚΠ
1807 Crit. Rev. Mar. 300 We cannot deny to our author the merit of having combated the popular opinion in favour of a child actor, when at its highest.
1967 Punch 23 Aug. 287/1 Also good is the Lady Macduff scene between Sheila Allen and Peter Nobbs, a child actor refreshingly free of the usual milksoppery.
2012 H. Cheung & N. Pittam Christian Bale ii. 24 Behind every child actor is at least one supportive and ambitious parent.
child actress n.
ΚΠ
1854 Daily Cleveland (Ohio) Herald 29 July The celebrated child-actresses, known as the Bateman children.
1936 Irish Monthly 64 158 A child actress, Shirley Temple, was the most popular of all film stars in the twelve months' period just past.
2011 New Yorker 2 May 9/1 Carly Rose Sonenclar, the gifted child actress who plays Alice's daughter, Chloe.
child angel n.
ΚΠ
1823 Manch. Iris 4 Jan. 184/1 There lay, sure enough, wrapt in its cloudy swaddling bands—a Child-Angel.
1901 M. Cruttwell Andrea Mantegna vii. 104 Below the gradino of her throne a child-angel is seated, a lute across its knees, its mouth open in song.
2012 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Nexis) 2 Feb. Two of the statues were plant holders in the shape of a woman's torso. The third statue was of twin child angels.
child-girl n.
ΚΠ
1816 Leaves 17 Perched on a stone, beside the cottage-door, Sat a child-girl, in raiment somewhat poor.
1967 Chicago Rev. 19 No. 3. 110 It is his infatuation with a strange, drifting child-girl named Lenore that begins his descent.
2006 N. Amer. Rev. 291 4/2 I was my lover's child-girl, and he was like a daddy.
child-heroine n.
ΚΠ
1843 Court Mag. May 103/1 There is only one tale, of which Beatrice Desmond is the child-heroine.
1903 Mod. Lang. Notes 18 232/2 The child heroine is introduced..‘Alice [Emmie] most won my love’.
1997 Independent on Sunday 16 Feb. (Review Suppl.) 30/2 Jane, the grave, sensible, put-upon child-heroine of Mona Simpson's unshowily intelligent third novel, was born in a commune.
child-king n.
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vi. xix. 320 Woo is þe lond þat hath a childe kinge [L. cuius rex puer est].
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 232 England felt all miseries which happen under a child-King.
1998 Time Out N.Y. 2 July 82/2 Spielberg became the child-king of Hollywood, and success clearly fucked with his film-nerd mind.
child labourer n.
ΚΠ
1839 Times 31 Jan. 3/1 A man labourer, not a woman labourer nor a child labourer..shall have such wages as will enable him to keep his wife and children in comfort and in peace.
1905 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 25 60 In Illinois alone the number of child laborers seems to have doubled during five years.
2006 R. Das Poverty & Hunger xviii. 284 She was only nine years old when she worked as a child labourer and earned meager wages for her family.
child-man n.
ΚΠ
a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 1515 (MED) A ȝong chylde-mon come renne a-syde & to þis holy mayde he dude honure.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes i. 11 The first Pagan Thinker..was precisely the child-man of Aristotle.
2011 Wall St. Jrnl. 2 Apr. c10/4 Nick Hornby is the most prolific chronicler..of the child-man, the post-adolescent but pre-adult male.
child-mother n.
ΚΠ
1848 Mirror Monthly Mag. Jan. 140 To the free and wild delight of its child-mother it began to toddle.
1968 Stud. Eng. Lit. 1500–1900 8 640 It is the world, the Murdstones, and not Death that robs David of this child mother.
2011 Daily Monitor (Kampala) (Nexis) 1 Dec. Women legislators have asked the government to develop a policy to educate child-mothers.
ΚΠ
1873 ‘Ouida’ Pascarèl I. i. ii. 22 A child-noble in his gala-costume of white and gold and powder and jewels.
child-prince n.
ΚΠ
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 620 (margin) A child Prince is a token of Gods wrath.
1887 Art Amateur 17 133/3 ‘A Political Marriage’, by J. A. Mitchell, shows a child prince and a princess, in sixteenth century costume.
2011 A. J. Fromherz Ibn Khaldun iii. 66 This rival called upon Ibn Khaldun to aid him in his overthrow of the child-prince.
child-saint n.
ΚΠ
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 396 S. Rumald..was canonized..for a child-Saint.
1890 Irish Monthly 18 435 One can fancy the ecstatic joy which then filled the soul of Francis—already at ten years of age a child-saint.
2004 J. P. Waghorne Diaspora of Gods 248 The full story of the child-saint is re-told in a condensed English version of the twelfth-century Periya Puranam.
child soldier n.
ΚΠ
1855 P. G. Hamerton Isles Loch Awe 303 (title) The child-soldier... He was a British Grenadier, And he was ten years old.
1934 Manch. Guardian 7 Nov. 13/7 A silver bayonet is to be the annual prize given to the best child soldier in Italy.
2001 C. Coker Humane Warfare vi. 123 Child soldiers are used by all accounts for their ruthlessness, their lack of moral inhibitions, their lack of restraint.
child sweetheart n.
ΚΠ
1840 Hartford (Connecticut) Daily Courant 4 Jan. 321/1 (title) Lines on his New Child-Sweetheart by Thomas Campbell.
1901 Times 9 Nov. 12/6 The machinations of an enterprising spinster..who stuck at nothing to oust the child-sweetheart.
2009 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 26 Dec. 84 Congrats to Scotland and Celtic star Stephen McManus who got hitched to his gorgeous child sweetheart last week.
child virgin n.
ΚΠ
1864 Boston Daily Advertiser 7 May You behold the old blue sky of childhood where Heaven used to be and Titian's child-virgin..mounts the stairs.
1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life iv. 61 Titian's child-virgin.
2008 R. Giorgi European Art 17th Cent. 99 The child Virgin is raised to Heaven standing on a cloud supported by child angels.
(c) Objective with agent and verbal nouns, and present participles, as child battering n., child-eater, child-eating n., child-killer, child-killing n., child-lover, child-loving adj., child-murderer, child rapist, child-stealer, etc.
ΚΠ
OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xxiv. 19 Uae autem prignantibus et nutriantibus in illis diebus : wa þonne eknum & cildfoedendum in ðæm dagum.
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 275 Þat he..not lette child bigeting and forþ bringyng.
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1395/1 To liue vnder suche a bloud-supper and childe kyller.
1595 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 ii. ii. 112 That Clifford there, that Cruell child-killer.
1613 S. Hutton tr. J. M. de Franchis Of Most Auspicatious Marriage i. ciii. 18 I first mou'd his child-eater from hence, That Gods might better see their blessed off-spring Flourish for euer in glorious excellence.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Infanticide, a slaying or killing of Infants, child-murthering; such was that of Herod.
1675 Mistaken Husband iv. vi. 51 I would fain be acquainted with these Child-stealers. I have a Litter of my little Urchins at home.
1790 European Mag. & London Rev. Apr. 257/2 This cruel Clyfford,..not contentive with this homicide or child-killing,..caused his head to be stryck off.
1826 W. Scott Woodstock II. viii. 214 I was captain in Lunsford's light-horse..I was a child-eater, sir.
1835 Foreign Q. Rev. Mar. 85/2 The wholesale infanticide so justly imputable to these institutions (founded..to prevent child-killing by retail) has decreased.
1845 J. H. Newman Ess. Devel. Christian Doctr. 224 The calumnies of child-eating and impurity in the christian meetings.
1852 Lamp 11 Sept. 529/2 Christ, the child-lover, already had unstopped the ears which had heard no discord, to listen to the harmonies of saints.
1853 Ladies' Repository Oct. 480/2 An exquisite slave is what we want; for the most part a humble, flattering, smiling, child-loving, tea-making, pianoforte-playing being.
1865 Sat. Rev. Aug. 162 The professional child-murderer.
1879 Burlington (Iowa) Daily Hawk-eye 12 Mar. 4/6 It was the intention of the mob, which yesterday attempted to hang Patterson, the child rapist, to break into the jail last night and finish its work.
1903 Presbyterian Banner (U.S.) 7 May 19/2 For this..child-killing under sanction of law,..Pennsylvania should be printed in black upon all the maps.
1908 J. H. McCarthy Duke's Motto 179 Æsop..now began to taunt his antagonist savagely, calling him a child-stealer and a woman-wronger, with other foul terms of abuse.
1922 Maternity & Child Welfare Jan. 3/1 Even the most ardent child-lover, the mother who is sweet-tempered and self-controlled,..tends to have her vision blurred by too close and continued contact.
1949 Changing Times June 38/1 There are enormous rewards for the child-loving woman in such work.
1963 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Sunday Post 8 Sept. c1/1 Bridgeport hospitals were found to have no overall policy on suspected child battering.
1986 L. Gordon in J. Mitchell & A. Oakley What is Feminism? 72 Exclusive female responsibility for childraising.
2000 Sydney Morning Herald 31 May 3/5 Sex offenders and child killers will be listed on the register for 10 years.
(d) Parasynthetic.
child-eyed adj.
ΚΠ
1882 A. C. Swinburne in C. Fiske Bates Cambr. Bk. Poetry & Song 553 With little unblown breasts and child-eyed looks Following, the very maid, the girl-child spring.
1925 W. Deeping Sorrell & Son xiv. 129 Merry, insouciant, child-eyed little lady.
2007 M. Thomas Man Gone Down ii. 23 He stared back at them..as though he was a boy looking at cupcakes, or a carnivore looking at flesh—child-eyed, man-jawed.
child-faced adj.
ΚΠ
1846 C. G. F. Gore Peers & Parvenus III. ii. 49 I swear that this charming heiress,—this clear-minded, pure-hearted, child-faced daughter,..prefers you.
1912 Metropolitan May 36/2 Who was this child-faced woman, whose passion..drove her to secret imagings of love and lovers?
2001 D. Holloway Dallas Jack Ruby Trial i. 6 Candy was a pretty, child-faced woman of 26.
(e) Similative.
child-simple adj.
ΚΠ
1844 E. B. Barrett Poems II. 238 Child-simple, undefiled, Frank, obedient.
1978 G. Nuttall King Twist ii. i. 28 The issues are child-simple. Be a child. Don't grow.
child-young adj.
ΚΠ
OE Maxims I 48 Ne sceal hine mon cildgeongne forcweþan, ær he hine acyþan mote.
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) lxx. 130 Cildgeongum mannum [a1225 Winteney cyldȝeonȝe manna; L. infantibus] eal geferræden unþeawas styre, and hyra mycele gymene hæbben oð þæt fifteoþe ger hyra ylde.
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 6440 (MED) A child-ȝong man, apliȝt, Þat was þe doukes kinseman..Alle on he folwed sir Gij.
1824 in J. Maidment North Countrie Garland 13 ‘Father,’ said she, ‘you have done me wrong, For ye have married me, on a childe young man.’
1949 I. Schneider tr. M. Gorky Autobiogr. ii. 14 Her face was child-young.
2010 J. Patterson Cross Fire xxviii. 97 He was child-young, but there was nothing resembling fear in those brown doe eyes of his.
b. † child changed adj. Obsolete rare changed by the conduct of his children; (perhaps also) changed into a child.† child-great adj. Obsolete big with child, pregnant.† child ill n. Scottish Obsolete the pains of childbirth; labour.† child-rider n. Obsolete a child servant; cf. sense 6.† child-rites n. Christian Church Obsolete the rites connected with the baptism of children.
child abuse n. maltreatment of a child, esp. consisting of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, or any combination of these.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > [noun] > amounting to cruelty > specific
child abuse1827
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > offence involving sex > sexual assault of child
child molestation1949
child abuse1972
1827 Hampshire Tel. & Sussex Chron. 24 Dec. It requires..the public to insist on having the Machine used, instead of the Child, to effect a gradual abandonment of a system of child abuse.
1892 Autumn Leaves 5 360/2 ‘Spare the rod, and spoil the child’, has been the cause of no end of child abuse and of unhappy homes.
1918 National Humane Rev. Apr. 66/1 The original objects and plans of the first society for the prevention of cruelty to children were the investigation, rescue and prosecution of alleged cases of child-abuse.
1972 Newsweek 11 Sept. 76/1 Other themes scheduled for prime-time dramatic treatment include impotency, castration,..and child abuse.
2009 New Yorker 19 Jan. 34/2 If a nursing woman drinks to excess..can she be charged with child abuse?
child abuser n. a person who commits child abuse.
ΚΠ
1873 Racine County (Wisconsin) Argus 20 Mar. More child whipping—As might be supposed the victim was a little child..under the supervision of the champion child abuser.
1904 Hibbert Jrnl. Oct. 15 A millstone round the neck of a child-abuser is too light a penalty.
1976 S. Brandon in M. Borland Violence in Family i. 4 Compared with women, the male child abuser is more likely to have a serious personality disorder of a psychopathic type.
2009 Irish Times (Nexis) 24 Nov. 4 A..convicted child abuser will be sentenced later for rape and sexual assault of five teenage boys over a 13-year period.
childage n. [ < child n. + age n.] now English regional (Lincolnshire) childhood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > [noun] > childhood
childhoodOE
childheadc1330
bairnheid1393
enfauncec1400
puerice1481
puerility1512
childage1548
childishness1597
leading-string1677
impuberty1785
cap and feather days1822
bairnhooda1835
child-life1841
pupillarity1846
tunic-hood1859
bread-and-butterhood1869
preadolescence1907
latency1910
puerilism1925
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. John Pref. 4 a In your very chyldage there appered in you a certayne..meruelous towardenes.
1638 T. Whitaker Blood of Grape 43 Childage, which from the birth is extended to the foureteenth or fifteenth yeare.
1766 R. Griffith & E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances IV. 130 We..return back, from Midage, to Childage, again.
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. Childage, childhood.
child allowance n. a tax allowance granted to parents of dependent children; (also, loosely) = child benefit n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > grants and allowances > [noun] > state allowance > family allowance
baby bonus1909
family benefit1911
child allowance1920
family allowance1958
family credit1974
child benefit1975
1920 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 24 July 145/2 Income Tax. Senex inquires whether on the facts stated it is worth his while to claim repayment for..child allowance.
1959 G. Slatter Gun in my Hand 225 People in the pubs spending the child allowance on booze.
1974 Hansard Commons 13 Nov. 418 The Government are committed to extend the family allowance to the first child under their child allowance scheme.
1991 Struct. Change & Econ. Dynamics 2 242 Erosion in the child allowance..started in the mid-1970s, as a result of which the credit (allowance) point has lost 30% of its purchasing power.
child benefit n. (chiefly in the United Kingdom) a state allowance paid to a parent or guardian for each child cared for (replacing family allowance: see family allowance n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > grants and allowances > [noun] > state allowance > family allowance
baby bonus1909
family benefit1911
child allowance1920
family allowance1958
family credit1974
child benefit1975
1975 Child Benefit Act c. 61 § 1 (1) A person who is responsible for one or more children in any week..shall be entitled to a benefit (to be known as ‘child benefit’) for that week in respect of the child or each of the children for whom he is responsible.
1991 Pract. Health Jan. 57/2 Her take-home pay is £52 for a 26-hour week, plus Child Benefit of £7.25 and the One-Parent Benefit of £5.60.
2012 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 2 Feb. 18 Parents would only receive child benefit for three children and no more.
child-bereft adj. that has lost a child or children, esp. denoting a parent whose child has died.
ΚΠ
1848 Sharpe's London Mag. Nov. 22/2 How calmly does he rebuke the intemperate grief of the child-bereft Constance!
1899 Outlook 23 Dec. 955/2 The vacant chair and the silence of a child-bereft home.
1990 Jrnl. Arabic Lit. 21 145 The wailing of child-bereft women.
2009 S. Kelso Riversend i. 6 A child-bereft woman's grief.
child bird n. now rare (in South America) a penguin. [After American Spanish †paxaro niño (1646, in the passage translated in quot. 1703, or earlier; now pajaro niño).]
ΚΠ
1703 tr. A. de Ovalle Hist. Relation Chile i. xix. 39/1 There is another Bird call'd the Child Bird [Sp. paxaro niño], because it looks like a Swadled Child, with its Arms at liberty;..perhaps they are the same call'd Pinguins.
1847 T. Ross tr. J. J. von Tschudi Trav. Peru i. iii. 36 The Peruvians call it Paxaro niño (the child bird). It is easily tamed, becomes very social, and follows its master like a dog.
1979 R. T. Peterson Penguins 156 These days in much of South America, as elsewhere, it has become unthinkable to kill or harm the pajaro nino, ‘child bird’.
child-bishop n. = boy bishop n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > persons and characters > [noun] > presiding > boy-bishop
St. Nicholas' bishop1473
child-bishop1570
boy bishop1774
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1188/2 On Childermas day..he offered in Paules Churche at offeryng time, to the child bishop (called S. Nicolas) a dogge for deuotion.
1720 J. Strype Stow's Surv. of London (rev. ed.) I. i. xxv. 166/1 The Children every Childermas Day to go to Paul's Church, and hear the Child-Bishop Sermon.
1987 Environmental Rev. 11 3 The world was turned upside-down: a nubile young girl presided as Child-Bishop and the watery-eyed village toper reigned as Lord of Misrule.
child-bride n. a bride who is still a child; a very young bride.
ΚΠ
1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons II. v. i. 162 Boy-bridegroom and child-bride as we were.
1865 Spectator 7 Jan. 21/1 The child bride, who married at ten, joined her husband at fourteen, was left a widow at sixteen, and died at twenty-six.
1909 Daily Chron. 9 Oct. 3/1 The author shows us the child-bride arriving at the court of France.
1986 S. Penman Here be Dragons (1991) (U.K. ed.) i. iii. 60 His sisters, who had been bartered as child brides to foreign princes, were little more to him now than time-dimmed memories.
2000 Big Issue 10 Apr. 31/4 Norma Jeane's [sic] trajectory from child-bride to blonde bombshell, her vulnerability and intense need to find herself, propel the reader past the sticky bits.
child-centred adj. (esp. of education) centred around the child; giving priority to the interests and needs of children.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > [adjective] > child-centred
child-centred1923
1923 Math. Teacher 16 71 Mathematics teachers of the University High School agree..that the work of the former period is child-centered.
1970 Guardian 28 Jan. 11/5 The child-centred, permissive approach.
2007 Independent 8 Dec. 21/2 Such children..need genuinely child-centred learning in small groups.
ΚΠ
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxi. 15 This child changed father. View more context for this quotation
child-crowing n. Medicine (now rare) spasm of the muscles closing the larynx, which results in crowing inspiratory sounds, occurring in a child; cf. croup n.2 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > respiratory spasms > [noun] > coughing > croup
croup1765
child-crowinga1830
a1830 R. Gooch Pract. Compend. Midwifery (1831) 337 I know of no name for it more appropriate than that of child-crowing.
1861 T. J. Graham Pract. Med. 191 The child-crowing, though merely a spasmodic disease, is not..free from danger.
1911 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 Sept. 484/2 Cases of stridor and child-crowing.
2003 T. Navarra Encycl. Asthma & Respiratory Disorders 116/2 Laryngismus stridulus, also known as child crowing, a spasm that briefly causes closure of the glottis.
child custody n. Law responsibility for or guardianship of a child or children, esp. as vested in one of the parents after divorce or separation; = custody n. 6; frequently attributive.
ΚΠ
1857 N.Y. Daily Times 18 Mar. 8/1 (headline) The child custody case.
1947 Social Service Rev. 21 125/2 Social service for children, as contrasted with child custody, was new.
1977 Washington Post 28 July 4/1 More than half the partners bring along children from a previous marriage, complicating the second marriage with child custody headaches.
1993 Canad. Living July 119/2 Such potentially emotional issues as child custody and parental visitation rights.
2004 N. K. Choudri Compl. Guide Divorce Law 92 Because children often mean more to people than anything else in their lives, child custody battles can be the most contentious and most protracted of all divorce-related disputes.
child destruction n. the killing of a child; (Law, chiefly British) the crime of causing a viable unborn child to die during the course of pregnancy or birth, before it has an existence independent of its mother.
ΚΠ
1859 Age (Melbourne) 16 Dec. 6/6 To mark his displeasure of the growing crime of child destruction and as a warning to others, the sentence of the court was that she be imprisoned.
1928 Scotsman 23 Nov. 13/1 The Preservation of Infant Life Bill..provides that any person, who, with intent to destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive, by any wilful act causes the child to die before it has an existence independent of its mother, should be guilty of child destruction.
2005 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 1 Oct. 716/4 They would face criminal charges, after being arrested last February on suspicion of conspiracy to commit child destruction.
child development n. the changes which occur as children mature physically, emotionally, socially, linguistically, and cognitively; the study of this; frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > [noun]
child development1879
child psychology1887
developmental psychology1898
paedology1947
1879 Inter Ocean (Chicago) 13 June 2/6 I have arranged a series of diet tables for the various stages of child development.
1941 Jrnl. Exper. Educ. 10 114/1 The term ‘insecurity’ and its correlative ‘desire for security’ appear extensively in child development literature.
1961 Hist. Educ. Q. 1 No. 3. 48 Both Comenius and Pestalozzi were searching for a mid-position that would be congruous with child development yet not imprisoned by educational permissivism.
2009 A. Sohn Prospect Park West 126 She made an effort to talk to Mance all the time in a light, pleasing sing-song that child development experts called motherese.
child-directed speech n. Linguistics and Social Psychology a simplified form of language used in speaking to babies and young children; cf. motherese n., baby talk n. at baby n. and adj. Compounds 1g.
ΚΠ
1972 P. A. Broen Verbal Environm. of Language-learning Child iii. 17 It remains to be seen how pauses function in child-directed adult speech.]
1987 C. E. Snow et al. in K. E. Nelson & A. Van Kleek Children's Lang. VI. iv. 66 Fine-tuning implies that, as the child's own language ability develops, the caretakers decrease the amount of simplification or modification in their child-directed speech.
2002 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 29 Mar. 3 Research indicates that higher-pitched voices are part of child-directed speech (CDS), which also includes rising intonation, altered vocabulary and other pronoun changes.
2009 C. K. Sigelman & E. A. Rider Life-span Human Devel. (ed. 6) x. 285/1 Those parents who use child-directed speech further simplify the child's task of figuring out the rules of language.
child-farming n. now historical = baby farming n.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [noun] > rearing children for profit
child-farming1849
baby farming1867
1849 Standard 11 Jan. The only sufferers were the poor children in the child-farming establishment.
1872 J. Forster Life Dickens (1874) III. 257 A child-farming that deserved the gallows.
1970 V. George Foster Care (2002) i. 11 There was the inevitable fear that since boarding out was similar in some respects to apprenticeship and child farming, foster children might be similarly ill-treated and neglected.
2006 S. Hempel Med. Detective 111 It was to take an outbreak of cholera to put a stop to child-farming once and for all.
child-friendliness n. the quality of being child-friendly.
ΚΠ
1987 Trans. Inst. Brit. Geographers 12 172/2 The deviations towards child friendliness are minor peturbations [sic] compared to the prevailing level of threat.
1996 Independent (Nexis) 31 Oct. 13 The gospel of child-friendliness..is spreading far and wide from pubs to brasseries, motorway service stations to hotels.
2009 K. Covell & R. B. Howe Children, Families & Violence 196 Among the common characteristics of political cultures in the Nordic countries is a relatively high degree of child-friendliness.
child-friendly adj. welcoming towards or suitable for children; designed with the needs, interests, or safety of children in mind.
ΚΠ
1977 Los Angeles Times 26 July iv. 4/1 L.A. is not a child-friendly place. I've never heard of such a thing anywhere else—you can't rent with children!
1985 Guardian 6 Dec. 16/8 The account we get is authentically child-friendly.
1998 A. Forna Mother of All Myths (1999) vii. 213 British travellers who spend time in Southern European countries, or further afield in Africa or Asia, often remark on how ‘child-friendly’ such societies are.
2008 Vanity Fair Aug. 141/3 A buyer will have to like the somewhat cheesy indoor swimming pool with child-friendly slide.
child-geared adj. †(a) having a childish manner (obsolete); (b) directed towards or designed to suit children.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > [adjective] > having childish manners
child-gearedc1400
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 86 He watȝ so joly of his joyfnes, & sum-quat child-gered.
1958 Poultry Digest Apr. 226/2 I suggest a child-geared ‘eat-an-egg-for-breakfast’ campaign of some kind.
2013 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 17 May d9 Will, with the help of wonderful special teachers, undergoes similar anti-anxiety routines plus other child-geared calming practices.
child genius n. a child who is precociously intelligent or gifted; a child prodigy.
ΚΠ
1845 E. Meteyard Struggles for Fame II. vi. 78 This beggarly child genius.
1929 Sci. News Let. 23 Nov. 325/3 The geneticist marshals a parade of the child geniuses of the past who displayed precocious talent almost in babyhood.
2003 B. Shaw Great Debating Ideas 45 By attending school with age-peers the child genius can mix and play normally with those at the same stage of development and who share similar interests.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [adjective]
greatc1175
with childc1175
with childc1300
baggeda1400
bounda1400
pregnant?a1425
quicka1450
greaterc1480
heavyc1480
teeming1530
great-bellied1533
big1535
boundenc1540
impregnate1540
great-wombeda1550
young with child1566
gravid1598
pregnate1598
pagled1599
enceinte1602
child-great1605
conceived1637
big-bellieda1646
brooding1667
in the (also a) family way1688
in the (also that) way1741
undelivered1799
ensient1818
enwombeda1822
in a delicate condition1827
gestant1851
in pod1890
up the (also a) pole1918
in a particular condition1922
preg?1927
in the spud line1937
up the spout1937
preggy1938
up the stick1941
preggers1942
in pig1945
primigravid1949
preggo1951
in a certain condition1958
gestating1961
up the creek1961
in the (pudding) cluba1966
gravidated-
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iii. 98 A Child-great Woman.
child guidance n. supervision or therapeutic treatment to promote the welfare, esp. in its psychological aspects, of children and adolescents; frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > care for or looking after > care of child or children > guidance of children
child guidance1896
1896 Boston Daily Advertiser 17 Oct. ‘Child Guidance’ was the interesting subject upon which Mrs Sarah Farwell Of St Paul, Minn., spoke on Thursday.
1937 ‘E. M. Delafield’ Ladies & Gentlemen in Victorian Fiction i. 33 A modern child-guidance expert.
1940 R. S. Woodworth Psychol. (ed. 12) i. 13 When a child presents a serious behaviour problem..he may be taken to a child guidance clinic.
2003 G. Newton From Victoria to Viagra (Wellcome Trust) 40/2 Specific areas such as neonatology, paediatric surgery..and child adolescent psychiatry, which emerged out of both child guidance and psychoanalytical theories that were being formulated in the early 20th century.
ΚΠ
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) xvi. 278 It is ye layndar..Yat hyr child-ill [1487 St. John's Cambr. childyne] rycht now has tane.
a1525 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 218 Within vj days efter for diseis scho toke hir child ill.
a1600 (?c1535) tr. H. Boece Hist. Scotl. (Mar Lodge) viii. xiv. f. 284, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Child-ill Ada..in hir childe ill with hir birth deceissing.
child labour n. †(a) the process of childbirth; = labour n. 8a (obsolete); (b) the use of children in industry or business, esp. when illegal or considered inhumane.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective] > labour or pains
in travailc1300
travailingc1405
labouring1540
child labour1585
laborious1615
in labour1623
1585 J. Banister Wecker's Compend. Chyrurg. xliii. 238 Childlabour neere hande, or newe fulfilled, argueth the part to bee inflamed through store of milke.
1738 Med. Ess, & Observ. (ed. 2) IV. xxxiii. 444 I thought it proper to send you the following History of a Woman who died in Child-Labour.
1817 J. Farey Gen. View Agric. Derbyshire III. 503 An almost incessant state of extended war.., since most of the Spinning Mills were erected, and the system of Child-labour began, which I am now deprecating.
1839 Med. Times 5 Oct. 12/3 An inquest ought generally to be held where death has followed on child labour.
1878 N. Amer. Rev. 127 448 Limitation of child-labor.
1930 C. E. Morgan Origin & Hist. N.Y. Employing Printers' Assoc. iv. 44 The Typographical Association of New York..denounced child labor, especially the use of roller boys.
1986 New Scientist 9 Oct. 18/3 The institute argues that child labour perpetuates the backwardness of the most disadvantaged people in India.
2009 Independent 2 Nov. 23/1 Federal authorities said spot checks on farms in the state of Michigan found that more than half were violating child labour or migrant housing rules.
child-land n. rare an idealized or imaginary realm of children or childhood.
ΚΠ
1882 Musical Times & Singing Class Circular 23 142/2 The second belongs to the pantomime writer; the first to the musician when he addresses a higher audience than is found in child-land.
1994 J. Foy Arts & Amer. Home vii. 129 Based on illustrations by the English artist Kate Greenaway, who depicted a ‘child-land’ inhabited by quaint, sweet, and gentle children who were ‘always happy’.
child-life n. life as a child; childhood; the lives of the children of a nation or community.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > [noun] > childhood
childhoodOE
childheadc1330
bairnheid1393
enfauncec1400
puerice1481
puerility1512
childage1548
childishness1597
leading-string1677
impuberty1785
cap and feather days1822
bairnhooda1835
child-life1841
pupillarity1846
tunic-hood1859
bread-and-butterhood1869
preadolescence1907
latency1910
puerilism1925
1841 Universalist Union 27 Nov. 21/1 They are natural stories of child life, written in a simple, yet very graceful and pleasing style.
1885 M. I. Bryson (title) Child Life in Chinese Homes.
1933 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 Mar. 151/2 This latest medical pamphlet contains three papers in which Adlerian psychology is applied to various phases of child life.
2011 Future of Children 21 98/1 Even with fully staffed nursing and ancillary support from volunteers and child-life specialists, most hospitalized children spend most of their day with no health care professionals in their room.
child lock n. any of various locking devices designed to prevent a child from opening, accessing, or using something which is perceived as unsuitable or potentially harmful.Originally with reference to physical locks on car doors, medicine cabinets, etc.; later also of pass codes or similar security features used to prevent or restrict access to computers, electronic devices, etc.
ΚΠ
1961 Guardian 16 Oct. 3/5 Most children from the age of four can manipulate undetected a quick release safety belt and any form of child lock which operates from the inside of the car.
1988 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 19 June The VCR features a 14-function infra-red remote control, a child-lock to avoid interruption of the tape or accidental erasure, [etc.].
2005 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 25 May 7 Their escape was foiled by a child lock on a window until firefighters tore the window from its frame to rescue his two daughters.
2012 Western Daily Press (Nexis) 14 July (Letters section) 22 The facts of life, which any ten-year-old with parents who don't know how to put a child lock on their computer could have worked out for themselves.
child molestation n. sexual abuse of a child by an adult.
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society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > offence involving sex > sexual assault of child
child molestation1949
child abuse1972
1949 Yuma (Arizona) Daily Sun 15 Nov. 1/1 Stroble, who police said was a fugitive since he jumped $1000 bail in connection with a child-molestation case, was known to have been friendly with Linda.
1950 Collier's 21 Jan. 21/1 How many cases of child molestation were never reported to the police?
1977 Daily Mirror 15 Mar. 3/5 [The] film director.., who is accused of rape, child molestation..[etc.], claimed today that he is innocent.
2012 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 9 Jan. a1 At least a dozen child molestation and child pornography prosecutions since 2000.
child molester n. a person who is guilty of child molestation.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > offence involving sex > sexual assault of child > one who
child molester1939
nonce1971
1939 Mansfield (Ohio) News Jrnl. 11 Oct. 2/2 (headline) Officers Get New Reports on Child Molester From Girl.
1981 G. Swift Shuttlecock i. 15 A suspected child-molester..who commits suicide before proceedings can be taken.
2003 Toronto Sun (Nexis) 26 May 14 A convicted child molester..was able to refuse giving a sample of his DNA to police.
child offender n. (a) a child who is guilty of an offence; (b) an adult who is guilty of an offence (esp. a sexual offence) against a child.
ΚΠ
1846 London Daily News 4 Feb. 4/5 I have seen him so moved at sight of the Child-Offenders.
1922 Friend Jan. 9/2 Child offenders must be classed no longer with adult outcasts, thugs and criminals.
1978 A. N. Groth in A. W. Burgess et al. Sexual Assault of Children & Adolescents ii. 38 The child offender turns to children for comfort and satisfaction of his needs, not to adult authority figures.
1997 Daily Mail (Nexis) 20 Oct. 1 Paedophiles will face indefinite jail sentences in future... Child offenders will be locked up for as long as doctors feel they are dangerous.
2010 N. Abiad & F. Z. Mansoor Criminal Law & Rights of Child in Muslim States ii. 19 Until mid-1988, of 72 States and territories which retained the death penalty in their laws, half had provisions in national law which excluded child offenders.
child porn n. = child pornography n.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > moral or spiritual impurity > indecency > [noun] > pornography > type of
child pornography1967
child porn1974
torture porn1989
hentai1990
1974 Zanesville (Ohio) Times Recorder 29 May d1/2 Police raids have gathered up whole warehouses of child porn.
2000 Police Feb. 20/1 Up until now, Internet-friendly pornographers, either suppliers or receivers of child porn, have had relatively easy lives.
child pornographer n. a person who produces, distributes, or collects child pornography.
ΚΠ
1977 Joplin (Missouri) Globe 11 Apr. 2 b/1 Greedy child pornographers are ruining the lives of thousands of boys and girls each year by catering to purient [sic] interests.
1993 Spy (N.Y.) Jan. 7/1 A..convicted child pornographer facing a maximum ten years in jail.
2003 Congress. Rec. 24 Feb. 4236/1 We cannot and we will not permit child pornographers to hide behind the courts or modern technology.
child pornography n. pornographic material featuring sexually explicit images or descriptions of children.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > moral or spiritual impurity > indecency > [noun] > pornography > type of
child pornography1967
child porn1974
torture porn1989
hentai1990
1967 Winnipeg Free Press 18 Nov. (Weekend Mag.) 4/2 To treat the molestors, the slides shown include an extensive collection of child pornography.
1987 Jrnl. Policy Anal. & Managem. 6 243 Some opponents of child pornography may fear the pleasure of the consumers rather than the damage to performers, as evidenced by their opposition to descriptions and drawings as well as photographs.
2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) xii. 251 Operation Ore—the United Kingdom's largest ever hunt for internet users who download child pornography.
child prodigy n. a child with precocious talent, esp. in the performing arts, an infant prodigy; cf. prodigy n. 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > high intelligence, genius > [noun] > person of superior intellect, genius > child
prodigya1684
child prodigy1860
sharpshins1883
quiz kid1940
1860 Charleston (S. Carolina) Tri-weekly Courier 24 Mar. Miss Kate Bateman, once a child prodigy,..made her appearance last night at the Winter Garden, in an adaptation..of Longfellow's poem—‘Evangeline’.
1895 Washington Post 15 Sept. 18 Jeanne Blancard, another child prodigy..is but nine years of age, and is celebrated..for her genius in composition and piano playing.
1942 E. Blom Music in Eng. vii. 118 Field was by no means the only musical child-prodigy.
1986 Radio Times 2 Aug. 4/1 I played a brainbox child prodigy chess player.
2005 R. Nidel World Music: Basics iv. 223 Shujaat Hussain Khan was a child prodigy who began playing on a small sitar at age 3.
child protection n. the protection of children, esp. by social or legal agencies, from danger or abuse of various kinds; frequently attributive.
ΚΠ
1893 Methodist Mag. Dec. (end matter) Children's Protection Act of Ontario. Hon. J. M. Gibson, Provincial Secretary... Child Protection in Ontario. Rev. J. E. Starr, Secretary Children's Aid Society.
1894 Zion's Herald 24 Jan. 27/3 Hon. J. M. Gibson, provincial secretary, has an article on the ‘Child Protection Act in Ontario’.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Mar. 90/2 In the matter of child protection our legislators are still..beginners.
1986 L. Gordon in J. Mitchell & A. Oakley What is Feminism? 64 Nineteenth-century child protection agents saw themselves as para-legal, punishing specific offences, protecting children from specific dangers.
1994 Fortean Times Oct. 36/1 In cases of child protection, they are blamed for acting too quickly, or too late; for not co-operating with other services, [etc.].
2009 Independent 2 Jan. 5/5 He was not the subject of a child protection plan—what was formerly the ‘at-risk register’.
child psychiatrist n. a psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of children.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > psychiatry > [noun] > psychiatrist > types of
psychiatric social worker1918
social psychiatrist1920
neuropsychiatrist1922
orthopsychiatrist1924
child psychiatrist1925
Laingian1972
1925 Boston Sunday Globe 1 Feb. b4/2 Montaigne..gave sage suggestions that the modern child psychiatrists are only now trying to apply.
1928 Salt Lake Tribune 19 Aug. (Mag. section) 5/2 Dr. Leslie B. Hohmans, noted child psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University, made a study of all the circumstances.
1986 D. Shields Dead Lang. (1990) vi. 44 Mother..said if I pestered her any more she was going to refer me to a child psychiatrist.
2013 Guardian (Nexis) 13 June (International section) 22 Every toy developed by the manufacturer was tested by a range of children, and child psychiatrists, parents and teachers were also consulted.
child psychiatry n. the branch of psychiatry dealing with the treatment of children.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > psychiatry > [noun] > types of
neuropsychiatry1918
psychiatric social work1919
social psychiatry1924
child psychiatry1925
orthopsychiatry1929
phenomenology1930
transcultural psychiatry1958
1925 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 13 Dec. 22/5 Dr William Healy of Boston medical director of the Judge Baker Foundation and authority of child psychiatry.
1962 Lancet 5 May 959/2 Proposals..to set up a child-psychiatry clinic entirely within the hospital system.
2011 K. T. Kalikow Kids on Meds xiv. 314 Most medicines used in child psychiatry are taken for at least the better part of a year.
child psychologist n. an expert in or student of child psychology.
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the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > [noun] > practitioner of
child psychologist1892
paedologist1894
developmental psychologist1951
1892 Spectator 12 Mar. 376/2 It is one of the best studies that have ever appeared of that greatest of child-psychologists.
1924 R. M. Ogden tr. K. Koffka Growth of Mind 3 The child-psychologist can follow the growth of a human being.
2008 Esquire Mar. 155/2 Some child psychologists and criminologists are predicting that this surge in extreme violence is just a taste of things to come.
child psychology n. the systematic study of the psychology of children.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > [noun]
child development1879
child psychology1887
developmental psychology1898
paedology1947
1887 Science 13 May 460/1 M. Bernard Perey, whose books on infant and child psychology have been so successful, is at work on another of the same character, entitled ‘La petite fille’.
1924 R. M. Ogden tr. K. Koffka Growth of Mind 3 Principles of child-psychology.
1941 ‘R. Crompton’ William does his Bit x. 232 Mrs. Dayford was a self-styled expert on Child Psychology.
1967 B. Russell Autobiogr. I. ii. 38 I remember a very definite change when I reached what in modern child psychology is called the ‘latency period’.
2009 Irish News (Nexis) 16 Feb. 25 Problems were solved instinctively with a simple wisdom not to be found in any child psychology manual.
child-queller n. now rare †(a) a person who kills children (obsolete); (b) (humorous) a person who deals severely with children.
ΚΠ
?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. B.vjv Mortherers, Crakers, facers and chylderne quellers.
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) viii. 72 The Castle of this ogress and child-queller was in a steep bye-street.
1930 E. Wingfield-Stratford Those Earnest Victorians ix. 82 Mr. Mill must be admitted to have fallen a good deal short of Mr. Fairchild as a child-queller, though his children..seem to have suffered in health under his ministrations.
child-rearing n. the process of bringing up a child or children.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [noun]
nourishingc1325
nurturec1330
afaitementc1400
nurseryc1400
nortelryc1405
alterage?c1450
nouriturec1450
rulec1525
upbringingc1525
education1527
nourituring1555
nutriture1567
breeding1577
nurturing1578
nuzzling1586
rearing1611
frame1632
seasoning1649
nurtureship1837
child-rearing1842
paedotrophy1857
raising1929
1842 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 4 Apr. This nation has a practice of modifying the form of the head during child-rearing.
1918 Christensen's Ragtime Rev. Jan. 20/4 Gladys' ideas on child rearing had gone to smash long ago.
1968 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 114 581/1 The mother's..manner of relating the nature of the child's symptoms provides a valuable opportunity to assess maternal attitudes and, more inferentially, child rearing practices.
2007 L. Kleypas Mine till Midnight x. 133 Most women of the countess's exalted position wouldn't see their own offspring more than once or twice a day, leaving the majority of child-rearing to the nanny.
child restraint n. originally U.S. a seat belt or safety seat designed to protect children in a motor vehicle.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > seat-belt > for child
harness1962
child restraint1967
1967 Wall St. Jrnl. 11 May 32/3 Chrysler said it was also investigating a child-restraint system.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 5 June 9/1 The study recommended that children be restrained by a seat belt or specially designed child-restraint system while traveling.
1991 What Car? Apr. 29/2 Children under 14 travelling in the rear seat must also wear seatbelts or child restraints, where fitted and available for use.
2004 Which? July 35/3 Remember, though, no matter how high a car's Euro NCAP rating for child protection, it's always safer to use a child restraint than to use nothing at all.
child-ridden adj. afflicted with or oppressed by children.
ΚΠ
1843 B. Bradshawe Man Without Head II. iv. 71 Away went this weak and child-ridden woman, to argue against her better reason with her husband.
1870 R. Broughton Red as Rose I. 254 The Felton curate's fat childridden wife.
1962 Life 10 Aug. 62/1 The child-ridden parents are often no help—letting themselves be stampeded.
2008 Guardian (Nexis) 17 Apr. 36 While Lindsey Coulson conveys all the quiet, pinafored despair of her child-ridden neighbour.
ΚΠ
1665 in J. Y. Akerman Moneys Secret Services Charles II & James II (1851) Pref. p. vi, (table) Footmen 24,..Childryders 4,..Falconers 12.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrament > baptism > kinds of baptism > child > [noun] > rites of
child-rites1825
?1624 G. Chapman tr. Hymn to Apollo in tr. Crowne Homers Wks. 26 Euery feeble chaine, of earthy Child-rights; flew in sunder, all.
1825 C. Lamb in London Mag. Jan. 18 An Anabaptist minister conforming to the child rites of the church.
child seat n. a small seat for a child, now esp. a protective one fitted to a motor vehicle or bicycle; cf. car seat n.
ΚΠ
1842 Daily Atlas (Boston, Mass.) 9 July (advt.) A superior new Buggey, with child seat, drab lined, built of the best of materials.
1886 St. Louis Globe-Democrat 12 Dec. 20/7 (advt.) For sale—Six buggies, barouches, phaetons, storm-wagons and child-seat surrey.
1950 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 2 Aug. 13/3 These child seats are mounted on a curving platform some four feet high, making it an enjoyable and simple matter for the young patrons to be fitted for shoes.
1952 Republican-Courier (Findlay, Ohio) 28 May 3/4 A patented child-seat will minimize injuries in event of collision.
1996 Cycle Touring & Campaigning Apr. 20/1 Cycles now come in all shapes and sizes—tandems, recumbents, trailer bikes, hand-cranked cycles, trikes, cycles pulling trailers, cycles with child seats, cycles that incorporate wheelchairs.
2002 Which? Mar. 20/2 Special sensors designed automatically to deactivate the front passenger airbag if any child seat, including a rearward-facing one, is put on the passenger seat.
child-size adj. of the size of a child; of a size suitable for a child.
ΚΠ
1897 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 9 Nov. 10/2 (advt.) Lilliputian to child-size dolls.
1944 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 165/1 If your little girl has reached the age where she objects to using juvenile furniture, her child-size bureau may be made over into this young lady's vanity table.
2009 Church Times 7 Aug. 32/3 He is wispy, child-size, faintly breathing through a mask.
child-sized adj. = child-size adj.
ΚΠ
1899 Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) 26 Mar. 12/6 Percy..ordered a pork tenderloin and a child sized piece of mince pie.
1946 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 46 455/2 Children must have comfort during meals... Eating utensils are to be child-sized.
2007 Collect It! Jan. 51/2 Encouragement for small gardeners came in the shape of child-sized garden tools and watering cans.
child spacing n. the action or practice of planning the intervals between the births of children in a family.
ΚΠ
1932 Times of India 25 Apr. 14/3 There must be proper ‘child-spacing’ and the number of children in a family should be in proportion to the earnings of the father.
1969 ETC. June 152 Today with child-spacing an almost universal practice and all sorts of electrical appliances in the home, babies and housework need not be a full-time occupation.
2012 J. M. Twenge Impatient Woman's Guide to getting Pregnant (2016) i. 33 If you already have one or more young children and you're thinking about getting pregnant again, you're probably giving a lot of thought to child spacing.
child star n. a celebrated or famous child actor.
ΚΠ
1886 Weekly Wisconsin (Milwaukee) 6 Nov. 7/3 Miss Helen Dauvray, the actress, made her fortune by investing in mining stocks the savings from her salary as a ‘child star’ in California.
1936 P. G. Wodehouse Laughing Gas vii. 77 Have you ever had to look after a sassy, swollen-headed, wisecracking child star?
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 1 Mar. b7/1 [She] comes across as a micromanaged child star who goes on to become a drunk, a mother, a Hollywood habitué and a respectable actress.
child study n. the systematic study of children and their behaviour, development, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > science of mankind > [noun] > anthropology > child study
tecnology1857
paedology1870
child study1886
1886 Illinois School Jrnl. Dec. 87 A systematic course of child study, for the purpose of discovering more than are now known of the facts about the beginning and development of its powers.
1899 W. James Talks to Teachers i. 14 I know that child-study, and other pieces of psychology as well, have been productive of bad conscience in many a really innocent pedagogic breast.
1909 Daily Chron. 18 Nov. 7/2 There are those who urge a rather plausible plea in these child-study days for a little wholesome neglect.
1998 J. Grant Raising Baby by Bk. ii. 52 Magazine articles ridiculed mothers who, heeding the dictates of child study, allowed children to turn their houses upside down.
child support n. the financial support of children; payments made for the maintenance of a child or children, esp. those legally mandated from an absent parent.
ΚΠ
1913 San Francisco Chron. 3 May 20/6 (heading) ‘Child-support’ law interpreted.
1929 Belleville (Kansas) Telescope 7 Nov. 1/7 Bessie Smock was granted a divorce..and $25 per month for child support was granted plaintiff.
1965 N. Cassady Let. 3 Sept. (2005) 449 I've been offered a hundred & a quarter a week truckdriving job there..& ya know damn well how much back child support I owe—almost $1,600 now.
2009 Independent 21 Sept. 28/4 Over 90 per cent of fathers had stopped paying child support a year after divorce.
Child Support Agency n. (also with lower-case initials) an agency responsible for the assessment and, where necessary, the collection of compulsory child maintenance payments from absent parents (the official name of a central government agency in Australia and formerly in the United Kingdom); abbreviated CSA.
ΚΠ
1953 Abilene (Texas) Reporter News 7 Apr. 9 a/3 (headline) Child Support Pay Agency Plan OKd.]
1973 Fitchburg (Mass.) Sentinel 22 May 2/5 (headline) Child Support Agency ‘Outstanding’.
1988 Canberra Times 21 Apr. 10/4 Maintenance payments will be automatically deducted by the employer from the non-custodial parent's pay and paid to the new Child Support Agency.
1990 Children come First in Parl. Papers 1989–90 (Cmnd. 1264) I. p. ii A Child Support Agency will be created. It will have responsibilities for the assessment, review, collection and enforcement of maintenance payments.
2006 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 30 July (Seven Days section) 3/1 When whatever body succeeds the Child Support Agency tries to chivvy a single mum out of a few quid of benefit.
child trafficker n. a person engaged in child trafficking.
ΚΠ
1976 Lawrence (Kansas) Daily Jrnl.-World 16 Apr. 11/1 There..seems to be a ‘loosely connected organization of child traffickers cooperating with each other in transporting babies across state lines’.
1993 Rotarian Sept. 25/1 Child traffickers lure many children into prostitution and pornography.
2013 Washingtonian (Nexis) 28 May 179 These areas are home to low-end apartment complexes targeted by child traffickers.
child trafficking n. trade in or procurement of children for the purposes of exploitation; the action or practice of illicitly, forcibly, or fraudulently relocating children from one country or area to another, typically in order to exploit them for forced labour, prostitution, etc.; cf. human trafficking n. at human adj. and n. Compounds 1b.
ΚΠ
1887 Manitoba Daily Free Press 16 Aug. The investigating committee appointed by the White Cross guild to inquire into the charges of child trafficking and juvenile prostitution.
1982 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 16 Nov. About 3,000 children..were smuggled into Hong Kong since October 1981 when the first child trafficking case was discovered.
2010 New Yorker 10 May 50/3 In Haiti.., a culturally accepted form of child trafficking already exists. Some poor parents sell the children to affluent Haitians as indentured servants.
child welfare n. the welfare of children; cf. welfare n. 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > philanthropy > [noun] > social service or work > types of
casework1892
child welfare1907
social casework1916
youth work1944
support service1964
1907 Publ. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 10 288 The answers would help secure an increase..in general attention to child welfare.
1958 New Statesman 20 Dec. 877/1 Intelligence testing, for example, grew to its present stature because its value was recognised in the world of education and child welfare.
2001 N.Y. Mag. 24 Sept. 56/1 He is so zealous about child welfare you'd think there was money in it.
child within n. = inner child n.
ΚΠ
1950 Public Opinion Q. 14 480 Animistic representations in advertisements are certain to receive immediate attention since they appeal to the child within ourselves.]
1956 H. Guntrip Mental Pain & Cure of Souls x. 146 All patients..dread a type of treatment based on the uncovering and drawing back to consciousness of the timid child within.
1983 19th-cent. Fiction 37 519 The ghost child whom the adult narrator encounters..is also..a resurrection of an ever-present child within.
1991 U. Markham Your Four Point Plan for Life (BNC) 73 If our parents..gave in to our tantrums, our child within will probably manifest itself in a negative, rather than a positive, fashion.
2000 Big Issue 20 Mar. 9/5 As the daughter of hippy parents..she doesn't give up the ‘child within’ without a fight.
child-woman n. †a young female servant (cf. sense 6) (obsolete); a girl; a woman who is still a child.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > girl > [noun]
maiden-childeOE
maidenOE
maidc1275
maid-childc1275
wenchc1290
thernec1300
lassc1325
maidenkinc1330
child-womana1382
girlc1400
pucelle1439
maidkin1440
mawther1440
mop1466
woman-child?1515
bonnea1529
urchina1535
kinchin-mort1567
dandiprat1582
prill1587
sluta1592
little girl1603
maggie1603
tendril1603
squall1607
childa1616
filly1616
vriester1652
miss1668
gilpie1720
lassie1725
laddess1768
jeune fillea1777
bitch1785
girly?1786
gal1795
ladyling1807
missikin1815
colleen1828
girleen1833
snowdrop1833
pinafore1836
chica1843
fillette1847
charity-girl1848
urchiness1852
Mädchen1854
gel1857
pusill1884
backfisch1888
girly-girly1888
cliner1895
tittie1918
weeny1929
bobby-soxer1944
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > [noun] > woman or girl
maidenOE
schelchenec1000
womanOE
maidc1300
ancillec1366
wench1380
child-womana1382
maidservanta1382
serving-womana1398
servantessa1425
servant maid?a1450
woman servant1450
servitrice1477
administress1483
ministressa1500
serving maid?1529
maiden-servant1533
servitrix1566
miskin-fro1585
servant girl1658
girl1668
necessary womanc1689
scout1708
servitress1827
ancilla1871
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Judith xiii. 5 Judit seide to hir child womman [a1425 L.V. damesele].
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Esther iv. 4 The childer wymmen of Ester.
1862 E. Bulwer-Lytton Strange Story II. xxv. 177 The child-woman in the child-world.
2004 Daily Tel. 4 Mar. 23/2 With her gamine face and tiny, long-legged body, Ananiashvili still seems, at almost 40, a child-woman.
child worker n. (a) a child employed as a worker; (b) an adult who works with children.
ΚΠ
1842 Population Stockport: Copy Evid.& Rep. 122 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 158) XXXV. 158 One child worker in factory, earns 6s. 8d.
1904 Polit. Sci. Q. 19 418 This typical street worker [sc. the newsboy] was ignored in all the state laws which protect other child workers.
1947 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 47 216/1 Part of every child worker's task is to help the child live fully, regardless of whether he is at home, at school, in the clinic, or in the hospital.
1998 Guardian 4 June 6/8 Any child-worker who is accused of inappropriate behaviour with children is asked to stop working while the allegation is investigated.
2012 K. Bales Disposable People vii. 241 Producers had to agree..to turn over 1 percent of the carpet wholesale price to a welfare fund for child workers.
C2. Compound's with child's.† child's bed n. Obsolete the womb; = childbed n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sex organs > female sex organs > [noun] > womb
wombeOE
innethc888
bosom971
bitc1000
motherc1300
cloisterc1386
mawc1390
flanka1398
marisa1400
matricea1400
clausterc1400
mater?a1425
matrix?a1425
wamec1425
bellyc1440
oven?1510
bermother1527
child's bed1535
bairn-bedc1550
uterus1615
kelder1647
ventera1656
childbed1863
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Esdras iv. 40 Yf hir childeszbed maye kepe ye byrth eny longer within her.
child's-eye view n. [after bird's eye view n. 1] a view, picture, or opinion, such as that which a child may have.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > mental attitude, point of view > [noun] > held by child
child's-eye view1931
1931 Indiana (Pa.) Evening Gaz. 16 July 8/2 A child's eye view of how it feels to be one of the more than 30,000 children of the State in the care of foster homes.
1959 Birmingham Mail 29 May 4/6 The serious-minded parents could no longer ignore the child's-eye view of the family world.
2010 N.Y. Mag. 23 Aug. 64/3 The feathers and the sequins of figure skating are..a child's-eye view of glamour.
C3. Compounds with children's.
a.
(a) attributive, with the sense ‘of, relating to, or for children’, as children's author, children's charity, children's entertainer, children's fiction, children's programme, children's ward, etc.Some of the more established compounds of this type are entered separately at Compounds 3a(b).
ΚΠ
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria vii. f. 77 Many be occupyed vncomly, and vnaccordynglye about childrens maters.
1579 in Mariner's Mirror (1966) 52 292 4½ gross rander gloves, 35 doz. pinnes, 900 ells cushen canvas and 6 doz. children's daggers.
1642 Inventory 14 Nov. in Great Reclothing Rural Eng. (1984) 189 Elfin-blades 2s, a dozen childrens gloves 16d.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 161 Steeple houses (as Churches are styled in our new Childrens Dictionary).
1786 T. Baldwin Airopaidia iii. 16 The Shape of an inverted Cone, or Children's Top.
1831 G. Henson Civil Hist. Framework-knitters iv. 224 The stationers..formerly enjoyed the exclusive right to print and sell almanacks, children's alphabets, psalm books, [etc.].
1845 Medico-chirurg. Rev., & Jrnl. Pract. Med. 47 211 Sixteen cases were admitted into the children's ward.
1894 H. Butterworth Zigzag Journeys White City xii. 282 Mrs. Bates' own room was filled with portraits of children's authors.
1899 Charities Rev. Mar. 43/1 His people are sent instead..to hospitals, children's charities, societies for visiting the needy, almshouses, and homes for the aged.
1922 Home Lands June 13/1 At the morning service the children should be allowed to participate by one or more selections sung by a children's choir.
1957 Times 15 Apr. 13 A rigid sense of democracy long ago debarred nannies and maids from children's fiction.
1966 Economist 3 Dec. 1002/1 The Chancellor should increase children's allowances for large, relatively poor families.
1978 J. Wain Pardoner's Tale vii. 203 She's in a group that does children's theatre.
1991 Incentive Today Oct. 5 (advt.) Ladieswear, Menswear, Childrenswear and Interiors.
1992 I. Banks Crow Road iii. 72 The tin-whistle pretend language from one of the children's programmes we'd all watched as youngsters.
2008 Independent 29 July 31/1 He looked like a children's entertainer who'd fallen on hard times.
(b)
children's book n.
ΚΠ
?1750 M. Allison, Bookseller in Falmouth (advt.) 1/2 Childrens Books of all sorts.
1896 Bookseller 4 June 565/1 A delightful children's book, in which the various discoveries in Egyptian antiquity are most amusingly parodied in the well-known style of the original Struwwelpeter.
1966 ALA Bull. 60 40/2 I reread Uncle Tom's Cabin, and by no stretch of the imagination can I see how its plot or plots could be made acceptable for a children's book.
2006 Peak District Life Spring 70/1 Kenneth Grahame's captivating children's book, The Wind in the Willows.
children's hospital n.
ΚΠ
1752 tr. Declar. Queen of Sweden in J. T. Philipps Fund. Laws Potent Kingdoms 67 We also religiously promise to take Care of the Revenues of Churches, Universities, Colleges, Schools, Hospitals, and especially the Childrens-Hospital at Stockholm.
1835 Dublin Jrnl. Med. & Chem. Sci. 7 165 An eminent physician of the Children's Hospital has stated that few children die without pneumonia to a greater or lesser extent.
1984 A. Oakley Taking it like Woman (1985) 108 She..was scheduled for an intravenous pyelogram at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.
2012 N.Y. Times 9 Sept. (Late ed.) (Metropolitan section) 16 (advt.) One of the nation's best children's hospitals.
children's literature n.
ΚΠ
1835 S. L. Smith Let. 14 Dec. in E. W. Hooker Mem. Sarah Lanman Smith (1839) x. 200 It is a painful thought to us, that children's literature, if I may so term it, is incompatible with the genius of this language.
1907 A.L.A. Booklist 3 22 Interesting to the occasional child who fancies quaint tales, and to all students of children's literature.
2008 Independent 18 Apr. 9/1 The test of all great children's literature is its ability to resonate with adults as well as its younger readers.
b.
children's home n. a residential institution for children who are orphaned, abandoned, or otherwise vulnerable.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > institutional homes > [noun] > for orphans or children
conservatory1620
orphanotrophium1673
orphan house1711
orphanotrophy1727
orphan hospital1736
foundling-house1750
foundling-hospital1756
orphan asylum1806
children's home1839
orphanage1865
protectory1865
orphanry1869
police orphanage1872
Pestalozzi children's village1946
1839 Church of Eng. Mag. 26 Oct. 272/1 Chaplain to the Children's Homes, Norwood, Tooting, and Brixton.
1880 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. London 43 233 The judgment of the family system pronounced by the Managers of the Children's Home in the Bonner Road.
1948 A. C. Kinsey et al. Sexual Behavior Human Male x. 387 The moves to have such ‘neglected’ children taken away from their parents and made wards of the court, for placement in other families or in children's homes or in juvenile disciplinary institutions.
1976 Scotsman 24 Dec. 13/1 (advt.) Retiral collection in aid of children's homes.
2001 B. Broady In this Block there lives Slag 96 He was doomed: The Mirpuri rastas shunned him now—he was reduced to running with the kids from the children's home.
children's hour n. now historical an hour of recreation in the evening, spent by children with their parents; (also, with capital initials) the title of a BBC radio programme (first broadcast 1922, discontinued 1961).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > specific
nooning1552
after-dinner1576
wheta1628
High Mail1676
High Mall1712
Sabbath-day1734
Blue Monday1790
noonscape1819
noon-spell1839
children's hour1853
smoke-ho1874
welting1964
society > communication > broadcasting > radio broadcasting > [noun] > types of programme
radio show1921
children's hour1923
series1923
scrap-book1933
postscript1940
write-in1947
radiothon1953
1853 ‘H. Trusta’ Last Leaf from Sunny Side 86 That hour was as dear to her as a Sabbath hour. It was called in the family dialect, ‘The children's hour.’
1863 H. W. Longfellow Children's Hour i, in Tales Wayside Inn 209 Between the dark and the daylight..Comes a pause in the day's occupations, That is known as the Children's Hour.
1923 Radio Times 12 Oct. 89/3 The Children's Hour: (a) Games and Pastimes; (b) Children's News.
1937 ‘E. M. Delafield’ Ladies & Gentlemen in Victorian Fiction 14 The children..live in the society of their parents. What was once known as the children's hour now extends handsomely into the twenty-four.
1964 M. Laski in S. Nowell-Smith Edwardian Eng. iv. 199 The institution of the ‘children's hour’ between afternoon tea and dressing for dinner.
Children's Laureate n. (also with lower-case initials) (a title awarded to) an eminent writer or illustrator of books for children.In the United Kingdom a Children's Laureate has been appointed every two years since 1999.
ΚΠ
1870 Church Chron. 1 Mar. 132/2 Mr. Barr, the children's laureate, as he may fairly be termed, has given us in this volume some happy thoughts, set in pleasant rhymes.
1979 Victorian Periodicals Rev. 12 143 A witty account of the life, work, and times of the ‘children's laureate’ [sc. Eugene Field].
1999 Times 11 May 38 The Princess Royal appointed the illustrator and writer Quentin Blake as our first Children's Laureate.
2013 Derry Jrnl. (Nexis) 28 Mar. Australia's two inaugural Children's Laureates stop off at Verbal Arts Centre..during their first visit to Ireland.
children's menu n. a menu designed for children; esp. one in a restaurant or cafe, offering a different choice of food, smaller portions, etc.
ΚΠ
1881 M. André (title) The children's menu; dished up by André to suit all tastes.
1896 N.Y. Times 12 July 29/2 The following table..may be pasted in the back of the housekeeper's cook book, and if often referred to will be found profitable, especially in planning for children's menus.
1925 Times 25 Nov. 11 (advt.) Cracker teas in restaurant. Special Children's Menu.
2010 S. R. White Soft Place to Land 16 Naomi..told him Julia was absolutely too old to order off the children's menu.
children's rights n. the human or legal rights of children, spec. the rights of children to humane treatment, appropriate living conditions, health care, education, etc.
ΚΠ
1817 Fairburn's Edit. xxiii. 360 Happily has the struggle, which affected not only you, but your children, and your children's children's rights and liberties, terminated.
1944 Massachusetts Rep. (Lexis) 313 223 And in Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, children's rights to receive teaching in languages other than the nation's common tongue were guarded against the state's encroachment.
1971 Ink 12 June 11/4 Children's Rights Day: Action Space with inflatables and events.
1992 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 5 Mar. 4/2 Ms. Clinton's role as an activist for children's rights took on a new urgency in Arkansas, a state whose backward educational system has limited its citizens' future.
Derivatives
ΚΠ
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess vii. 156 She [must gain] mental breadth, nor fail in childward care.
1894 F. Fenwick Miller in Woman's Signal 4 Jan. 4/3 To be presumed to have no taste in feminine matters, no capacity for dressing well, no ability for housekeeping, no childward tenderness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
childv.
/tʃʌɪld/, U.S. /tʃaɪld/ Now rare and archaic.† 3. transitive. figurative. To bring out, bring forth. Obsolete.
1. intransitive. To bear a child; to be delivered.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > be confined [verb (intransitive)] > give birth
kenc1000
childc1175
beara1382
labour1454
to cry out1623
parturiate1649
pup1708
to fall in two1788
accouche1819
to have one's bed1848
pip1973
to put to bed1973
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3317 Sannte marȝess time wass þatt ȝho þa shollde childenn.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 224 Þe wyfman lyþ a chi[l]dbedde oþer nyeȝ uor to childi.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) l. 605 (MED) Tjme is comen þe lefdy shal childe; She biddeþ þe god be hire mylde.
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 108 Whanne she hadde childed, she thanked God.
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie sig. Dviiv Within ii. dayes they chylded both.
1598 R. Carew Herrings Tayle sig. D4v She new childing groanes with paine, and quakes for feare.
1808 Monthly Mag. 26 453 Jeremy Taylor..says: the Virgin Mary childed on her knees, that she might bring forth her maker in the act of adoring him.
1903 T. Hardy Dynasts (2010) II. v. ii. 271 Her good mother childed seventeen times.
2003 C. McCullough Touch 264 Determined to keep women in their place—childing, cooking, cleaning, forever pegging out the washing.
2. transitive. To bring forth, give birth to (a child). Also in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > confine or deliver [verb (transitive)] > give birth
forthbring971
akenOE
haveOE
bearOE
to bring into the worldOE
teemOE
i-bereOE
to bring forthc1175
childc1175
reara1275
ofkenc1275
hatcha1350
makea1382
yielda1400
cleck1401
issue1447
engenderc1450
infant1483
deliver?a1518
whelp1581
world1596
yean1598
fall1600
to give (a person or thing) birth1615
to give birth to1633
drop1662
pup1699
born1703
to throw off1742
beteem1855
birth1855
parturiate1866
shell1890
to put to bed1973
bring-
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 156 Þe shall elysabæþ Þin wif an sune childen.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 978 (MED) Sche childed a selcouþe grome.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Ezek. xxiii. 4 Thei childiden sones and douȝtris.
c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 80 In the towne of Andeworpe the quene chyldyd Sir Lyonelle.
1512 Helyas in W. J. Thoms Coll. Early Prose Romances (1828) III. 27 In great paine and travaille of bodye she childed .vi. sonnes and a faire doughter.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. xii. sig. Kkv A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho. View more context for this quotation
1611 T. Heywood Golden Age iv. sig. G4v The Queene shall childe a daughter beautifull.
a1889 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1918) 73 I have tall daughters dear that heed my hand: Let Winter wed one, sow them in her womb, And she shall child them on the New-world stand.
a1924 A. Ghose Coll. Poems (1970) 96 Though mixed with mortality And wedded to human woe, Though childing a babe, death's fee, Why should it pang thee so?
1959 H. L. Humes Men Die 20 Arielle? Gretchen? Both are childed by the same father.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth
doeOE
makelOE
to bring forthc1175
farrow?c1225
childc1350
fodmec1390
raise1402
spring?1440
upbringc1440
breed1526
procreate1546
hatch1549
generate1556
product1577
deprompt1586
produce1587
spire1590
sprout1598
represent1601
effer1606
depromea1652
germinate1796
output1858
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) vii. 15 (MED) He conceiued sorow and childed [L. peperit] wickednesse.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 195 Ȝif þou wylt chylden a chyld to god, þat is, clene lyif.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) f. 26 An vnfallible reule hit is, amonge the chyldren of vanitie, to chylde the vices of theym that be vycyous.
a1641 J. Everard tr. Divine Pymander (1649) xiii. 170 When both parts of the Sense accord one with another, then is the Understanding childed.
1661 O. Felltham Resolves (rev. ed.) 71 We childe that in a loose laughter, which should be grave.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.eOE
v.c1175