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infancy (n.)
late 14c., "condition of babyhood," also "childhood, youth," from Anglo-French enfaunce and directly from Latin infantia "early childhood," from infantem "young child," literally "one unable to speak" (see infant). Restriction to the earliest months of life is a return to the etymological sense of the word but is a recent development in English. In old legal language it meant "condition of being a minor" and could mean any age up to 21.
Entries linking to infancy
infant (n.)late 14c., infant, infaunt, "a child," also especially "child during earliest period of life, a newborn" (sometimes meaning a fetus), from Latin infantem (nominative infans) "young child, babe in arms," noun use of adjective meaning "not able to speak," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + fans, present participle of fari "to speak," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say." As an adjective in English, 1580s, from the noun.
The Romans extended the sense of Latin infans to include older children, hence French enfant "child," Italian fanciullo, fanciulla. In English the word formerly also had the wider sense of "child" (commonly reckoned as up to age 7). The common Germanic words for "child" (represented in English by bairn and child) also are sense extensions of words that originally must have meant "newborn."
The Romans extended the sense of Latin infans to include older children, hence French enfant "child," Italian fanciullo, fanciulla. In English the word formerly also had the wider sense of "child" (commonly reckoned as up to age 7). The common Germanic words for "child" (represented in English by bairn and child) also are sense extensions of words that originally must have meant "newborn."
updated on November 18, 2015
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Definitions of infancy from WordNet
Dictionary entries near infancy
Inez
infallibility
infallible
infamous
infamy
infancy
infant
Infanta
infanticide
infantile
infantilism
