Etymologically
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childhood

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 00:13. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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Childishness, a quality proper to a child, is from about 1175 and is obsolete,[5] as is a childish action (about 1314).[5] Second childhood, the childishness of extreme old age, is from about 1400.[5] The figurative sense, the early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

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