Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Child
Child
(chīld)
, Noun.
pl.
Children
(chĭl′drĕn)
. [AS.
cild
, pl. cildru
; cf. Goth. kilþei
womb, in-kilþō
with child.] 1.
A son or a daughter; a male or female descendant, in the first degree; the immediate progeny of human parents; – in law, legitimate offspring. Used also of animals and plants.
2.
A descendant, however remote; – used esp. in the plural;
as, the
. children
of Israel; the children
of Edom3.
One who, by character of practice, shows signs of relationship to, or of the influence of, another; one closely connected with a place, occupation, character, etc.;
as, a
. child
of God; a child
of the devil; a child
of disobedience; a child
of toil; a child
of the people5.
A young person of either sex. esp. one between infancy and youth; hence, one who exhibits the characteristics of a very young person, as innocence, obedience, trustfulness, limited understanding, etc.
When I was
child
. I spake as a child
, I understood as a child
, I thought as a child
; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1. Cor. xii. 11.
6.
A female infant.
[Obs.]
A boy or a
child
, I wonder? Shakespeare
To be with child
, to be pregnant.
– Child’s play
, light work; a trifling contest.
Child
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Childed
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Childing
.] To give birth; to produce young.
This queen Genissa
childing
died. Warner.
It chanced within two days they
childed
both. Latimer.
Webster 1828 Edition
Child
CHILD
, n.1.
A son or a daughter; a male or female descendant, in the first degree; the immediate progeny of parents; applied to the human race, and chiefly to a person when young. The term is applied to infants from their birth; but the time when they cease ordinarily to be so called, is not defined by custom. In strictness, a child is the shoot, issue or produce of the parents, and a person of any age, in respect to the parents, is a child.An infant.
Hagar cast the child under one of the shrubs. Gen. 21.
It signifies also a person of more advanced years.
Jephthas daughter was his only child. Judges 11.
The child shall behave himself proudly. Is. 3.
A curse will be on those who corrupt the morals of their children.
The application of child to a female in opposition to a male, as in Shakspeare, is not legitimate.
2.
One weak in knowledge, experience, judgment or attainments; as, he is a mere child.Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. Jer. 1.
3.
One young in grace. 1 John 2.One who is unfixed in principles. Eph. 4.
4.
One who is born again, spiritually renewed and adopted; as a child of God.5.
One who is the product of another; or whose principles and morals are the product of another.Thou child of the devil. Acts 13.
That which is the product or effect of something else.
This noble passion, child of integrity.
6.
In the plural, the descendants of a man however remote; as the children of Israel; the children of Edom.7.
The inhabitants of a country; as the children of Seir. 2 Chron. 25.To be with child, to be pregnant. Gen. 16:11, Gen. 29:36.
CHILD
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2024
Child
Child
English
Noun
Child
- Alternative letter-case form of child often used when referring to God (Jesus) or another important child who is understood from context.
- 1906, Record of Christian Work, volume 25, page 861:
- He appeared as an only begotten Child, as a Child calling us to be children also, and yet with this difference, that He and His Father maintained a holy intimacy with each other which no one dared to share.
- 2012, Charles M. Stang, Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite (ISBN 0199640424), page 62:
- This emendation is echoed in Thekla's reunion with Paul outside the city, where she offers the following prayer of thanksgiving: God, King and Blessed Creator of everything, and Father of your great and only begotten Child, I give you thanks.
- 1906, Record of Christian Work, volume 25, page 861:
child
child
English
A woman with two children c. 1933.
Alternative forms
- childe (archaic)
Noun
child (plural children or (dialectal or archaic) childer)
- A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority); (obsolete, specifically) a female child, a girl.
- Shakespeare
- A boy or a child, I wonder?
- 1876, "C" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 616:
- Our English ch (pronounced tch) for original c (as in chin for Old English cin, child for cild) is due probably to Norman influence, but here, as often, it is difficult to differentiate the results of the many disturbing causes which have operated upon our language.
- Go easy on him: he is but a child.
- Shakespeare
- (with possessive) One's son or daughter, regardless of age.
- My youngest child is forty-three.
- (with possessive) One's descendants, regardless of age.
- The children of Israel.
- (figuratively) A figurative offspring, particularly:
- A person considered a product of a place or culture, a member of a tribe or culture, regardless of age.
- He is a child of his times.
- 1984, Mary Jane Matz, The Many Lives of Otto Kahn: A Biography, page 5:
- For more than forty years, he preached the creed of art and beauty. He was heir to the ancient wisdom of Israel, a child of Germany, a subject of Great Britain, later an American citizen, but in truth a citizen of the world.
- 2009, Edward John Moreton Dunsany, Tales of Wonder, page 64:
- Plash-Goo was of the children of the giants, whose sire was Uph. And the lineage of Uph had dwindled in bulk for the last five hundred years, till the giants were now no more than fifteen foot high; but Uph ate elephants […]
- Anything derived from or caused by something.
- Poverty, disease, and despair are the children of war.
- 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19:
- It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. […] It is the starving of the public sector which has been pivotal in America no longer being the land of opportunity – with a child's life prospects more dependent on the income and education of its parents than in other advanced countries.
- (computing) A data item, process, or object which has a subservient or derivative role relative to another.
- The child node then stores the actual data of the parent node.
- 2011, John Mongan, Noah Kindler, Eric Giguère, Programming Interviews Exposed
- The algorithm pops the stack to obtain a new current node when there are no more children (when it reaches a leaf).
- A person considered a product of a place or culture, a member of a tribe or culture, regardless of age.
Synonyms
- (young person): See Wikisaurus:child, Wikisaurus:boy, & Wikisaurus:girl
- (offspring): See offspring and Wikisaurus:son
- (descendant): See descendant
- (product of a place or era): product, son (male), daughter (female)
Antonyms
- (daughter or son): father, mother, parent
- (person below the age of adulthood): adult
- (data item, process or object in a subordinate role): parent
Derived terms
Terms derived from child
Related terms
See also
Translations
a female or male child, a daughter or son
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(figuratively) things or abstractions derived from or caused by something
a minor
|
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(computing) object which has a subservient or derivative role relative to another object
References
- Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary (accessed November 2007).
- American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company (2003).