Definitions for childhood
ˈtʃaɪld hʊdchild·hood

Princeton's WordNet(3.25 / 8 votes)Rate this definition:

1. childhoodnoun

   the time of person's life when they are a child

2. childhood, puerilitynoun

   the state of a child between infancy and adolescence

Wiktionary(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. childhoodnoun

   The state of being a child.

2. childhoodnoun

   The time during which one is a child, from between infancy and puberty.

3. childhoodnoun

   The early stages of development of something.

4. Etymology: From childhod, from cildhad, from cild + -had, equivalent to.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Childhoodnoun

   Etymology: from child, cildhad, Sax.

   1. The state of infants; or, according to some, the time in which we are children.

   Now I have stain’d the childhood of our joy
   With blood, remov’d but little from our own. William Shakespeare, R. & J.

   The sons of lords and gentlemen should be trained up in learning from their childhoods. Edmund Spenser, on Ireland.

   Seldom have I ceas’d to eye
   Thy infancy, thy childhood, and thy youth. John Milton, Pa. Reg.

   The same authority that the actions of a man have with us in our childhood, the same, in every period of life, has the practice of all whom we regard as our superiours. John Rogers, Ser.

   2. The time of life between infancy and puberty.

   Infancy and childhood demand thin, copious, nourishing aliment. John Arbuthnot, on Aliments.

   3. The properties of a child.

   Their love in early infancy began,
   And rose as childhood ripen’d into man. John Dryden, Fables.

Webster Dictionary(2.67 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Childhoodnoun

   the state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty

2. Childhoodnoun

   children, taken collectively

3. Childhoodnoun

   the commencement; the first period

4. Etymology: [AS. cildhd; cild child + -hd. See Child, and -hood.]

Freebase(3.70 / 10 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Childhood

   Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, childhood consists of two stages: preoperational stage and concrete operational stage. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. Various childhood factors could affect a person's attitude formation.

Matched Categories

1. • Immaturity
   • Time Of Life

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'childhood' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3430

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'childhood' in Nouns Frequency: #1439

How to pronounce childhood?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say childhood in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of childhood in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of childhood in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of childhood in a Sentence

1. Faith Hill:

   I actually had a pretty amazing childhood, i was adopted, if that’s what you’re referring to, but my family, my mom and my dad and my brothers, they are amazing, very stable, good Christian, God-fearing home, and a great small town of Star, Mississippi. I actually had a really stable childhood.

2. Kay Larson:

   I think [ support for child care ] is super-critical, it's difficult when working parents don't have some place that they trust for their children to have a quality early childhood experience and makes them productive members of the workforce.

3. William Osler:

   There is a form of laughter that springs from the heart, heard every day in the merry voice of childhood, the expression of a laughter -- loving spirit that defies analysis by the philosopher, which has nothing rigid or mechanical in it, and totally without social significance. Bubbling spontaneously from the heart of child or man. Without egotism and full of feeling, laughter is the music of life.

4. Ylva Almquist:

   A common dilemma in this kind of research is that we have the information we need to establish associations between conditions in childhood and health outcomes in adulthood, but we know quite little about whatever is happening in between.

5. Geer Jones:

   From the time my brother was murdered on, my sister and I did not have a happy childhood.

Popularity rank by frequency of use