childhood

/ˈtʃaɪld.hʊd/

//ˈtʃaɪld.hʊd// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"childhood" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“childhood” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,931. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,931
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
14
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being a child.

Corpus desk

Index EN-childhood · childhood · English

childhood · rank #2,931 · 14 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,931
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chances

Nearest frequency peer: chances (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “childhood”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “childhood” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for childhood
PropertyValue
Headwordchildhood
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtʃaɪld.hʊd/
Letters9
Frequency rank#2,931
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “childhood”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).childhoodlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “chances” (#2,930), “clinical” (#2,932), “cap” (#2,929). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “childhood” is #2,931. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around childhood (IPA /ˈtʃaɪld.hʊd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,931 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for childhood, with forms such as "cchildhood", "chhildhood", and "chidlhood". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English childhode, childhod, from Old English ċildhād (“childhood”). By surface analysis, child + -hood. Compare dialectal Dutch kindheid (“childishness”), German Low German Kinnerheid (“childhood”), and German Kindheit (“childhood”). The correct English form is childhood, spelled C-H-I-L-D-H-O-O-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being a child.
  2. 2
    The time during which one is a child, from between infancy and puberty.
  3. 3
    The early stages of development of something.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how childhood appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. To our own surprise, our 40-year study of 1,000 children revealed that childhood self-control strongly predicts adult success, in people of high or low intelligence, in rich or poor, and does so throughout the entire population, with a step change in health, wealth, and social success at every level of self-control.
  2. He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood.

Etymology

From Middle English childhode, childhod, from Old English ċildhād (“childhood”). By surface analysis, child + -hood. Compare dialectal Dutch kindheid (“childishness”), German Low German Kinnerheid (“childhood”), and German Kindheit (“childhood”).

This word in other languages

niñez(Español)enfance(Français)Kindheit(Deutsch)infância(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cchildhood
  • chhildhood
  • chidlhood
  • childdhood
  • childhhood
  • childhod
  • childhodo
  • childhoodd
  • childohod
  • chilhdood
  • chilldhood
  • chlidhood
  • cihldhood
  • hcildhood

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of childhood - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cchildhood1chhildhood1chidlhood2childdhood1childhhood1childhod1childhodo2childhoodd1
Edit distance from "childhood"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "childhood"?
"childhood" is spelled C-H-I-L-D-H-O-O-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtʃaɪld.hʊd/.
What does "childhood" mean?
As a noun, "childhood" means: The state of being a child.
What are common misspellings of "childhood"?
Common misspellings include "cchildhood", "chhildhood", "chidlhood", "childdhood", "childhhood". The correct spelling is "childhood".
How do you pronounce "childhood"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "childhood" is /ˈtʃaɪld.hʊd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "childhood"?
From Middle English childhode, childhod, from Old English ċildhād (“childhood”). By surface analysis, child + -hood. Compare dialectal Dutch kindheid (“childishness”), German Low German Kinnerheid (“childhood”), and German Kindheit (“childhood”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "childhood", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

commander#2,935democracy#2,941regularly#2,911recognize#2,908

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

principal14 variantsprotected14 variantsrecording14 variantswondering14 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list