Dictionary

children en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈt͡ʃʊldɹən/ (Australia, New-Zealand, UK, dialectal)
• /ˈt͡ʃɪldɹən/ (Australia, New-Zealand, UK, US)
• /ˈt͡ʃɪl.dən/ (Hong-Kong, proscribed)
• /ˈtʃɪl.ɹən/ Southern US, African-American Vernacular
• /ˈtʃɪl.ə(ɹ)n/ Southern US, African-American Vernacular
• (US) audio
• /ˈt͡ʃɪldɹən/ (Hong-Kong)

Etymology

From Middle English children, alteration of earlier childre ("children"; > English dialectal childer), from Old English ċildru, ċildra (“children”), nominative and accusative plural of ċild (“child”), equivalent to child + -ren.

Meanings

1. (form-of, plural) plural of child
   form of child
   • Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
2. (form-of, plural) plural of childer
   form of childer

Forms

Deriveds

University of Spoiled Children · Children of Israel · choke-children · Song of the Three Holy Children · childrenless · womenandchildren · childrenswear · children's game · knuckle children · Macaulay's children · antichildren