Dictionary

child-free en · ADJ

Etymology

Etymology tree English child Proto-Indo-European *preyH- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *priHós Proto-Germanic *frijwaz Proto-West Germanic *friu Old English frēo Middle English -fre English -free English child-free From child + -free.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Of a person or couple, having no children, biological, step, or adopted, as a matter of choice.
   • Many studies of child-free marriages indicate a higher degree of marital adjustment or satisfaction than is found among couples with children. 2010, Bryan Strong, Christine DeVault, Theodore F. Cohen, The Marriage and Family Experience, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 338:
   • Persons who choose to have child-free marriages tend to be stereotyped by friends and relatives as deviant, self-centered, or immature (Somers, 1993). 1996, J. Kenneth Davidson, Nelwyn B. Moore, Marriage and Family: Change and Continuity, Allyn & Bacon, →ISBN:
   • Indeed, the tenor of the book was a direct invitation to confront the challenge that there may be benefits to choosing a childfree lifestyle. 1999, Annily Campbell, Childfree and Sterilized: Women's Decisions and Medical Responses, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 6:
   • Being single, and childless—or child-free, as she would put it—she can do that. 2012, Suzanne Bugler, The Child Inside, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:
2. (not-comparable) Of an area, where children are excluded.
   • A writer in the Economist in 1998 also suggested creating more comfortable environments for themselves by excluding children: "All airlines, trains and restaurants should create child-free zones." 2023 October 18, Dr David Turner, “Family values...”, in RAIL, number 994, pages 47-48:

Forms

Coordinates

childless

Deriveds

childfreeness

Translations (7)

he אלהורות (having no children) · ru чайлдфри́ (having no children) · uk чайлд-фрі (having no children) · ja チャイルド・フリー (having no children) · fr sans enfant (having no children) · hi संतानहीन (having no children) · be чайлдфры (having no children)