infant
in·fant/ˈɪn.fənt/noun, adjective
infant is spelled I-N-F-A-N-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (in·fant). It appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, infant means “A very young human being, from birth to somewhere between six months and two years of age after birth, needing almost constant care and attention” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of infant is infants.
How many letters and syllables are in infant?
| Letters | 6: I-N-F-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: in·fant |
| In writing | 9.8 times per million words; the 7,224th 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 infant?
Infant appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th 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 infant?
- /ˈɪn.fənt/
Infant has 2 syllables, split in·fant in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-infant.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of infant
- infants plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- infanting participle, present
- infanted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does infant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A very young human being, from birth to somewhere between six months and two years of age after birth, needing almost constant care and attention.
- 2
A minor.
- 3
CommonwealthIrelandUKA student in an infant school or the first part of a primary school.
- 4
obsoleteA noble or aristocratic youth.
adjective
- 1
CommonwealthIrelandUKOf or pertaining to the earlier half of primary school education.
- 2
small, being near its source.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo bear or bring forth (a child); to produce, in general.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Infant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | nourrisson, enfant en bas âge, poupon |
| German | Säugling, Wickelkind, Kind, Kleinkind, kleines Kind, Kriechling |
| Portuguese | infante , menor |
| Spanish | nene, infante |
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 infant come from?
Inherited from Middle English infaunt, borrowed from Latin īnfantem, accusative masculine singular of īnfāns, nominal use of the adjective meaning 'not able to speak', from īn- (“not”) + fāns, present participle of for (“to speak”). The verb is from Anglo-Norman enfanter, from the same Latin source. Doublet of infante.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).