childlessnessn.
/ˈtʃʌɪl(d)lᵻsnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈtʃaɪl(d)lᵻsnᵻs/ The quality or condition of being childless.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > parenthood > [noun] > state of being childless
orbity1597
orbitude1623
childlessness1657
1657 F. Roberts Mysterium & Medulla Bibliorum iii. iii. 384 Abraham's childlesness, and Sarah's barrenness.
1728 T. Gordon tr. Tacitus Wks. I. 377 His wealth and childlesness [L. orbitate], added to his exceeding age, expos'd him to the plots and machinations of villany.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 60 Childlessness..is the appropriate and frequent punishment of sins of the flesh.
1865 A. Trollope Can you forgive Her? II. ii. 12 She recurred..to her own childlessness, and to his extreme desire for an heir.
1926 E. R. Groves Drifting Home ix. 211 The great majority of the companionate matings are from the first attempts at permanent childlessness.
1998 A. Forna Mother of All Myths (1999) v. 145 The British Medical Association..permitted, even encouraged, doctors to look upon surrogacy as a solution for childlessness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1657