childhood

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtʃaɪld.hʊd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English childhod, inherited from Old English ċildhād,^[2][3] formed from cild “child” and -hād “state, condition”, the sources of child and -hood.^[2][3][4] German has a similar formation, Kindheit.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state or stage of life of a child: about 950 in the OED.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Childishness, a quality proper to a child, is from about 1175 and is obsolete,^[5] as is a childish action (about 1314).^[5] Second childhood, the childishness of extreme old age, is from about 1400.^[5] The figurative sense, the early stage of something, is from 1585.^[5][6]

Timeline

• c. 950 – the state of being a child.^[5]
• c. 1175 – childishness.^[5]
• c. 1400 – second childhood.^[5]
• 1585 – an early stage of something.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The time or state of being a child.
2. The early stage in the development of something.

Word family

• prechildhood
• second childhood

Related words

• child
• childish
• -hood

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin