childhood

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishchildhode,childhod,fromOld Englishċildhād(“childhood”),equivalent tochild+‎-hood.Compare dialectalDutchkindheid(“childishness”),German Low GermanKinnerheid(“childhood”),andGermanKindheit(“childhood”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈt͡ʃaɪldhʊd/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-aɪldhʊd
• Hyphenation:child‧hood

Noun

childhood(countableanduncountable,pluralchildhoods)

1. (chieflyuncountable)The state of being achild.
   • 2013September-October,Terrie Moffittetal.,“Lifelong Impact of Early Self-Control”,inAmerican Scientist:

     To our own surprise, our 40-year study of 1,000 children revealed thatchildhoodself-control strongly predicts adult success, in people of high or low intelligence, in rich or poor, and does so throughout the entire population, with a step change in health, wealth, and social success at every level of self-control.

3. Thetimeduring which one is a child, from betweeninfancyandpuberty.
   • 1963,Margery Allingham,“Foreword”, inThe China Governess: A Mystery,London:Chatto & Windus,→OCLC:

     He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him[…]of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in hischildhood.

4. (by extension)The early stages ofdevelopmentof something.
   • c.1591–1595(date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act III, scene iii]:

     thechildhoodof our joy

Derived terms

• childhood disintegrative disorder
• childhood friend
• childhoodless
• childhoodlike
• childhood memory
• early childhood
• early childhood education
• midchildhood
• middle childhood
• prechildhood
• second childhood
• surgically induced childhood

Translations

state of being a child

• Aghwan:𐕘𐔰𐕙𐔴𐕒𐕡𐕎(ġareun)
• Arabic:طُفُولَة(ar)f(ṭufūla)
• Assamese:ল’ৰালি(lörali),শৈশৱ(xoixob)
• Belarusian:дзяці́нстваn(dzjacínstva)
• Bengali:শৈশব(bn)(śōiśob)
• Bhojpuri:बचपन(bacᵊpan)
• Bulgarian:де́тство(bg)n(détstvo)
• Burmese:သူငယ်ဘဝ(su-ngaibha.wa.)
• Catalan:infància(ca)f,infantesa(ca)
• Chichewa:ubwana
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Thơ ấu(tung⁴nin⁴),Tuổi nhỏ(jau³nin⁴)

  Mandarin:Thơ ấu(zh)(tóngnián),Tuổi nhỏ(zh)(yòunián),Nhi đồng kỳ／Nhi đồng kỳ(zh)(értóngqī)

• Crimean Tatar:balalıq
• Czech:dětství(cs)n
• Danish:barndom(da)c
• Egyptian:(ẖrdw),(nḫnt),(nḫnw)
• Esperanto:infaneco
• Faroese:barndómurm
• Finnish:lapseus
• French:enfance(fr)f
• Galician:infancia(gl)f,nenezf
• Georgian:ბავშვობა(bavšvoba)
• German:Kindheit(de)f,Kindschaftf
• Greek:παιδική ηλικίαf(paidikí ilikía)
• Gujarati:બચપણn(bacpaṇ),બાળપણn(bāḷpaṇ),નાનપણn(nānpaṇ),બચગીf(bacgī)
• Hebrew:יַלְדוּת(he)f(yaldút)
• Hindi:बचपन(hi)m(bacpan)
• Hungarian:gyermekkor(hu)
• Icelandic:barnæska(is)f
• Italian:infanzia(it)f
• Japanese:Tiểu nhi kỳ(しょうにき, shōniki),Tuổi nhỏ(ja)(ようねん, yōnen)
• Kalmyk:бичкндк цагнь(biçkndk tsagnʹ)
• Kazakh:балалық(balalyq)
• Korean:어린이성(eoriniseong),어린시절(eorin sijeol),유년( tuổi nhỏ )(ko)(yunyeon)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish:مناڵی(mnallî)

• Latin:pueritiaf
• Latvian:bērnībaf
• Lithuanian:vaikystėf
• Macedonian:детствоn(detstvo),детинствоn(detinstvo)
• Maltese:tfulijaf
• Maori:whanaketanga
• Marathi:लहानपणn(lahānpaṇ),बालपणn(bālpaṇ),बाल्यn(bālya)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic:бага нас(baga nas)

  Mongolian:ᠪᠠᠭ᠎ᠠ
  ᠨᠠᠰᠤ(bag-a nasu)

• Northern Sami:mánnávuohta
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:barndom(no)m

  Nynorsk:barndomm

• Old English:ċildhādm
• Pali:bālyan
• Pannonian Rusyn:дзецинствоn(dzecinstvo)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian:بَچِگی(bačegi),کودَکی(kudaki)

• Polish:dzieciństwo(pl)n
• Portuguese:infância(pt)f
• Romanian:copilărie(ro)f
• Russian:де́тство(ru)n(détstvo)
• Sanskrit:अपत्यता(sa)f(apatyatā),बाल्य(sa)n(bālya)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:дѐтӣњствоn,дјѐтӣњствоn,ђѐтӣњствоn(Montenegrin)

  Roman:dètīnjstvo(sh)n,djètīnjstvo(sh),đètīnjstvon(Montenegrin)

• Slovak:detstvon
• Slovene:otroštvo(sl)n,detinstvon
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian:dźěćatstwo(hsb)n

• Spanish:infancia(es)f
• Swahili:uana,utoto(sw)
• Swedish:barndom(sv)c
• Tagalog:pagkabata
• Tajik:бачагӣ(bačagi),кӯдакӣ(küdaki)
• Telugu:బాల్యం(te)(bālyaṁ)
• Thai:วัยเด็ก(th)(wai-dèk)
• Turkish:çocukluk(tr)
• Ukrainian:дити́нство(uk)n(dytýnstvo)
• Urdu:بَچْپَنm(bacpan)
• Volapük:cilüp(vo)
• Welsh:plentyndodm
• Zulu:ubunganeclass14,ubuntwanaclass14

time when one is a child

• Albanian:foshnjëri(sq)f,fëmijëri(sq)f
• Arabic:طُفُولَة(ar)f(ṭufūla)
• Armenian:մանկություն(hy)(mankutʻyun)
• Assamese:ল’ৰালিকাল(löralikal),শৈশৱকাল(xoixobkal),বাল্যকাল(baillokal)
• Azerbaijani:uşaqlıq,uşaqvaxtı
• Bashkir:бала саҡ(bala saq)
• Belarusian:дзяці́нстваn(dzjacínstva)
• Bengali:শৈশব(bn)(śōiśob),ছোটবেলা(chōṭobela),ছেলেবেলা(bn)(chelebela)
• Bulgarian:де́тство(bg)n(détstvo)
• Catalan:infància(ca)f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Thơ ấu(tung⁴nin⁴),Tuổi nhỏ(jau³nin⁴)

  Mandarin:Thơ ấu(zh)(tóngnián),Tuổi nhỏ(zh)(yòunián),Nhi đồng kỳ／Nhi đồng kỳ(zh)(értóngqī),Tuổi thay răng／Tuổi thay răng(zh)(tiáonián)(literary)

• Crimean Tatar:balalıq
• Czech:dětství(cs)n
• Danish:barndom(da)c,barndomstidc
• Dutch:kinderjaren(nl)n,kindertijd(nl)m
• Esperanto:infanaĝo
• Estonian:lapsepõlv,lapseiga(et)
• Faroese:barndómurm,barnaárnpl,óvitaárnpl
• Finnish:lapsuus(fi)
• French:enfance(fr)f
• Georgian:ბავშვობა(bavšvoba)
• German:Kindheit(de)f,Kinderzeit(de)f

  East Central German:Kindhaat(Erzgebirgisch)

• Greek:παιδική ηλικίαf(paidikí ilikía)
• Hebrew:יַלְדוּת(he)f(yaldút)
• Hindi:बचपन(hi)m(bacpan)
• Hungarian:gyermekkor(hu)
• Icelandic:barnæska(is)f
• Italian:infanzia(it)f
• Japanese:Tử cungThời đại(kodomo jidai),Tuổi nhỏThời đại(ようねんじだい, yōnen jidai)
• Kazakh:балалық шақ(balalyq şaq),балалық(balalyq)
• Khmer:កុមារភាព(km)(komaaphiəp),តំណូច(km)(tɑmnouc)
• Korean:유년시대(yunyeon sidae),어린시절(eorin sijeol)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish:مناڵی(mnallî)

  Northern Kurdish:zarokî(ku),zarotî(ku)

• Kyrgyz:балалык(ky)(balalık),балалык чак(balalık cak)
• Ladino:chikezf
• Lao:ໄວເດັກ(wai dek)
• Latvian:bērnībaf
• Lithuanian:vaikystėf
• Macedonian:детствоn(detstvo),детинствоn(detinstvo)
• Malayalam:കുട്ടിക്കാലം(ml)(kuṭṭikkālaṁ)
• Maltese:tfulijaf
• Maori:whanaketanga,hokoitinga
• Marathi:लहानपणn(lahānpaṇ),बालपणn(bālpaṇ),बाल्यn(bālya)
• Middle English:childhode
• Northern Sami:mánnávuohta
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:barndom(no)m,barndomstidmorf

  Nynorsk:barndomm,barndomstidf

• Old Norse:barnǿskaf
• Pannonian Rusyn:дзецинствоn(dzecinstvo)
• Pashto:ماشومتوبm(māšumtób),طفليf(teflí),طفوليتm(tofulyát)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian:بَچِگی(bačegi),کودَکی(kudaki)

• Polish:dzieciństwo(pl)n
• Portuguese:infância(pt)f
• Romanian:copilărie(ro)f
• Russian:де́тство(ru)n(détstvo),о́трочество(ru)n(ótročestvo)(adolescence)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:дѐтӣњствоn,дјѐтӣњствоn,ђѐтӣњствоn(Montenegrin)

  Roman:dètīnjstvo(sh)n,djètīnjstvo(sh),đètīnjstvon(Montenegrin)

• Slovak:detstvon
• Slovene:otroštvo(sl)n,detinstvon
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian:dźěćatstwo(hsb)n

• Spanish:infancia(es)f,niñez(es)f
• Swahili:utoto(sw)
• Swedish:barndom(sv)c
• Tajik:бачагӣ(bačagi),кӯдакӣ(küdaki)
• Telugu:బాల్యం(te)(bālyaṁ)
• Thai:วัยเด็ก(th)(wai-dèk)
• Turkish:çocukluk(tr)
• Turkmen:çagalyk,oğlanlyk
• Ukrainian:дити́нство(uk)n(dytýnstvo)
• Urdu:بَچْپَنm(bacpan)
• Uzbek:bolalik(uz)
• Vietnamese:tuổi thơ(vi)
• Volapük:cilüp(vo)
• Welsh:plentyndodm
• Yiddish:קינדשאַפֿטf(kindshaft),קינדעריאָרןnpl(kinderyorn)
• Zazaki:domaniyef
• Zulu:ubunganeclass14,ubuntwanaclass14

early stages of development of something

• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Lúc đầu／Lúc đầu(co¹si⁴),Mở đầu／Mở đầu(hoi¹tau⁴),Sơ đoạn(co¹dyun⁶),Ngày đầu／Ngày đầu(co¹tau⁴),Ban đầu／Ban đầu(hoi¹co¹),Lúc đầu(zou²kei⁴)

  Mandarin:Lúc đầu(zh)(chūqī),Khởi bướcGiai đoạn／Khởi bướcGiai đoạn(qǐbù jiēduàn)

• Finnish:lapsuus(fi)
• German:Kindheit(de)f,Anfangszeit(de)f,Frühzeit(de)f,Jugend(de)f,Kinderzeit(de)f
• Greek:πρώτα στάδιαn(próta stádia),παιδική ηλικίαf(paidikí ilikía)
• Hungarian:gyerekcipőben jár,kezdetiszakasz,koraiszakasz
• Japanese:Lúc đầu(ja)(しょ​き, shoki)
• Korean:초기( lúc đầu )(ko)(chogi)
• Latvian:bērnībaf
• Macedonian:детствоn(detstvo)
• Portuguese:infância(pt)f
• Russian:де́тство(ru)n(détstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:дѐтӣњствоn,дјѐтӣњствоn,ђѐтӣњствоn(Montenegrin)

  Roman:dètīnjstvo(sh)n,djètīnjstvo(sh),đètīnjstvon(Montenegrin)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

See also

• childhoodon Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Middle English

Noun

childhood

1. Alternative form ofchildhode