Child Meaning
/ˈt͡ʃaɪ̯ld/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).
nounA person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority, A person yet a toddler).
Sentence Examples
A child is not a vessel for filling, but a fire to light.
When I was a child, I would spend hours reading alone in my room.
Every child deserves access to high-quality education and healthcare.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every ____ in the class received a colorful balloon at the party.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Every ____ deserves to have a safe and happy home to grow up in city.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English child, from Old English ċild, from Proto-West Germanic *kilþ, *kelþ, from Proto-Germanic *kelþaz (“womb; fetus”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt- (“womb”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, amass”). Cognate with Danish kuld (“brood, litter”), Swedish kull (“brood, litter”), Icelandic kelta, kjalta (“lap”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹 (kilþei, “womb”), Sanskrit जर्त (jarta), जर्तु (jártu, “vulva”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And not just the children, teenagers too. Chuck wants a football, Kathleen a tattoo."
— 2003 Powerpuff Girls: 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas (narration)
"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."
— 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19:
"In one case, a mother was deported and took her 2-year-old child with her, while the other involves another mother deported and her 4- and 7-year-old children went with her, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Project, among other organizations, said in a news release Friday."
— 2025 April 27, Dakin Andone, “3 children who are US citizens — including one with cancer — deported with their mothers, lawyers and advocacy groups say”, in CNN:
"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."
— 1984, Mary Jane Matz, The Many Lives of Otto Kahn: A Biography, page 5:
"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[…]"
— 2009, Edward John Moreton Dunsany, Tales of Wonder, page 64:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every ____ in the class received a colorful balloon at the party.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Every ____ deserves to have a safe and happy home to grow up in city.