child
/tʃaɪld/noun
child is spelled C-H-I-L-D: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 200 times per million words in written English, the 505th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, child means “A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of child is children; Wiktionary also lists childer (archaic).
How many letters and syllables are in child?
| Letters | 5: C-H-I-L-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 200 times per million words; the 505th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is child?
Child appears 200 times per million words in written English, the 505th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce child?
- US /tʃaɪld/
- US [tʃaɪ̯ɫd]
- US [ˈtʃaɪ̯.ɫ̩d]
Child has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-child.ogg, En-uk-child.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with child
Also written: childe.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of child
- children plural
- chile
- childrens
- childs present, singular, he/she/it
- childing participle, present
- childed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does child mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).
Go easy on him: he is but a child.
- 2
A youth aged 1 to 9 years, whereas neonates are aged 0 to 1 month, infants are aged 1 to 12 months, and adolescents are aged 10 to 20 years.
- 3
One's direct descendant by birth, regardless of age; one's offspring; a son or daughter.
My youngest child is forty-three this year.
- 4
The thirteenth Lenormand card.
- 5
A person considered a product of a place or culture, a member of a tribe or culture, regardless of age.
the children of Israel
- 6
Anything derived from or caused by something.
- 7
A data item, process, or object which has a subservient or derivative role relative to another.
The child node then stores the actual data of the parent node.
- 8
Alternative form of childe (“youth of noble birth”).
noun
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of child often used when referring to God (Jesus) or another important child who is understood from context.
verb
- 1
archaicTo give birth; to beget or procreate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Child in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | enfant |
| German | Kind, Chind, kind, kindl |
| Portuguese | filho, filha, criança , menino, menina |
| Spanish | hijo, hija, niño, niña |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does child come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).