释义 |
child I. \ˈchīld, esp before pause or consonant -īəld\ noun (plural children \ˈchildrən, -dərn also -dən sometimes -u̇l-\) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English cild; akin to Old Swedish kulder all the children of the same marriage, litter, Gothic kilthei womb, inkiltko pregnant, Sanskrit jaṭhara belly, Latin galla gallnut — more at gall 1. a. : an unborn or recently born human being : fetus, infant, baby b. now dialect : a female infant 2. a. : a young person of either sex especially between infancy and youth < a play for both children and adults > < a child bride > < these child authors — Louis Auchincloss > b. : one who exhibits the characteristics of a very young person (as innocence or lack of restraint) < she would stay what she was — a placid grownup child until she died — IdaA.R.Wylie > < I am a child in most matters of practical business — O.W.Holmes †1935 > c. : a person who has not yet come of age — compare age 1d(2), age of consent, age of discretion 3. usually childe \ˈchī(ə)ld\ usually capitalized, archaic : a child or youth wellborn or of noble birth — usually used as a title especially in early English ballads and romances < Childe Harold > < Childe Roland > 4. a. : a son or a daughter : a male or female descendant in the first degree : the immediate progeny of human parents b. : an adopted child c. : any specified direct descendant (as a grandchild) — used especially in wills 5. : descendant : a member of the tribe or clan — usually used in plural < the children of Israel > 6. a. : one who in character or practices shows strong signs of the relationship to or the influence of another (as a disciple of a teacher) < a child of God > b. : one who has been strongly conditioned by a place, a type of action or occupation, or a state of affairs < a child of New York > < a child of toil > < a child of the depression > 7. : something in a relationship suggesting that of child to parent: as a. : product, result < technical development, the children of British brains and ingenuity — Roy Lewis & Angus Maude > < barbed wire … is truly a child of the plains — W.P.Webb > < Holland is the child of its rivers and of the sea — S.L.A.Marshall > b. : dependent, subsidiary < another child of both competing outfits was marketing their products in the Middle East and Africa — E.O.Hauser > • - this child - with child II. verb (-ed/-ing/-s) Etymology: Middle English childen, from child, n. obsolete : to bear young : give birth |