infant
noun
- child between 1 and 23 months of age
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɪn.fənt/
adj
Etymology: 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.
- Of or pertaining to the earlier half of primary school education.
“Primary schooling in Ireland comprises two Infant years, which are equivalent to pre-school in other countries , and six grades or classes.”
“Clearly, from the attention given to it, HMI believed that history should be part of the infant curriculum.”
- small, being near its source.
“Leaving Nantyglo, a small station at an altitude of 1,030 ft. with the platform on the eastern side, the train runs northwards over former G.W.R. metals, with the infant River Ebbw, a little more than a yard wide, on the west.”
noun
Etymology: 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.
- 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.
- A minor.
“Thomas Humphrey Doleman died the 30th of August 1712, an infant, intestate and without issue; Lewis the next nephew died the 17th of April 1716, an infant about sixteen years old, having left his mother Mary Webb, ...”
- A student in an infant school or the first part of a primary school.
- A noble or aristocratic youth.
“Retourned home, the royall Infant fell / Into her former fitt [...].”
verb
Etymology: 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.
- To bear or bring forth (a child); to produce, in general.
“This worthy motto, "No bishop, no king," is […] infanted out of the same fears.”