Dictionary

childer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈt͡ʃɪldə(ɹ)/

Etymology

From Middle English childer, childre, from Old English ċildra, ċildru.

Meanings

1. (Ireland, form-of, plural, qualifier:obsolete elsewhere) Plural of child.
   form of child
   • Parents, I've noticed, have a trick of saying their prayers through their childer on weathersome days. 1906, Halliwell Sutcliffe, A Benedick in Arcady:
   • "Well, whin we got up to the house, there was every one o' the people that's in the work, min, women and childher, all come together in the yard; an' a purty sight it was to luk upon, Thady: they wor all so nate an so clane, an' so happy." 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 515:
2. (Ireland, Northern-England) A child.
   • Yebbut...she ain't a childer any more...she's stuck in no-mans-land for the next few years. 2003 September 13, Guy King, “Re: Hi from Kran”, in uk.rec.sheds (Usenet):
   • As yo ma be quoit shure where there's agret family a childer, a wumman's loik tubbe varra throng ina monin 1839, Abel BYWATER, The Sheffield Dialect. [A Series of Papers in that Dialect, with a Glossary.], page 223:
   • Ay, a childer's class, tha' knows — a Katty — Katty — Aw dunna know wot they caw'n it. 1899, Frederick R. Smith, Doxie Dent: A Clog-shop Chronicle:
   • Aye has he, Dan'l Drax, so do ee larn him what cums to they as lets off rebels. He be safter nor turnips, nor boiled turnips, so he be. Was blubberin' while back over yon rebel an'a childer ! 1894, Emily Lawless, Maelcho: A Sixteenth Century Narrative:
3. (form-of, plural) Plural of childe (“self-turned vampire”).
   form of childe

Forms

Relateds

Childermas