toddler

Etymology

It is formed from English toddle + -er.^[2][3][4] The verb, first recorded in 1513 (Etymonline: c. 1600, in Scottish and northern English), is of uncertain origin.^[2][3] The OED takes it as a first element expressing unsteady motion with the suffix -le, and compares Middle Low German toddeln (“(of grain) to dribble”);^[2] Etymonline suggests it is related to or a variant of totter, influenced by waddle.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who toddles, in various senses: 1793, in David Ure's History of Rutherglen; this general sense was obsolete by the 1870s.^[2][3] In canting slang of about 1790, town toddlers were simple fellows easily cheated by sharpers.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense "young child" is recorded from 1837, and the word now means specifically a child learning to walk.^[2] Collins puts the age at roughly one to two and a half years.^[6] The pet form toddlekins dates from 1839,^[3] and toddlerhood from the mid 20th century.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1793 – one who toddles.^[2][3]
• 1837 – a young child.^[2]
• 1839 – toddlekins.^[3]
• mid 20th century – toddlerhood.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A young child who is learning to walk, usually between about one and two and a half years old.
2. (as modifier) Made for such a child: toddler shoes.

Word family

• toddlerhood

Related words

• toddle
• totter
• waddle

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins