Dictionary

infancy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɪnfənsi/

Etymology

From Middle English infancie, from Latin īnfantia (“infancy, early childhood; childishness”), equivalent to infant + -cy.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The earliest period of childhood (crawling rather than walking).
2. (countable, uncountable) The state of being an infant.
3. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) An early stage in the development of anything.
   • Space tourism is still in its infancy.
   • It was in November, 1932, in an endeavour to reduce working costs, that the first diesel railcar was introduced, and it was a far-sighted move on the part of Mr. D. N. McClure, for diesel propulsion on railways was then more or less in its infancy. 1941 May, Voyageur, “The Clogher Valley Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 195:
4. (countable, uncountable) The state of being a minor.

Forms

Deriveds

severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy · infancy gospel

Synonyms

babyhood · babyship · infanthood

Translations (42)

ja 乳児期 (earliest period of childhood) · fi vauvaikä (state of being an infant) · cy mabandod (state of being an infant) · fa صغیر (law: state of being minor) · kmr dergûşî (state of being an infant) · enm infancie (state of being an infant) · cy mebyd (earliest period of childhood) · ru несовершенноле́тие (law: state of being minor) · cmn 萌芽階段 /萌芽阶段 (early state in development) · cy babandod (earliest period of childhood) · fi varhaislapsuus (earliest period of childhood) · cmn 嬰兒期 /婴儿期 (state of being an infant) · de Anfangsphase (early state in development) · enm infancie (earliest period of childhood) · fi alkuvaihe (early state in development) · pl stadium początkowe (early state in development) · de frühe Kindheit (earliest period of childhood) · de Säuglingsphase (earliest period of childhood) · cmn 未成年狀態 /未成年状态 (law: state of being minor) · cmn 襁褓期 (earliest period of childhood) · fi lapsuus (state of being an infant) · la īnfantia (earliest period of childhood) · bg ра́нно де́тство (earliest period of childhood) · cy babandod (state of being an infant) · kmr dergûşî (early state in development) · fi vauvaikä (earliest period of childhood) · ru младе́нчество (earliest period of childhood) · de frühe Kindheit (state of being an infant) · cmn 嬰兒期 /婴儿期 (earliest period of childhood) · ru младе́нчество (state of being an infant) · bg непълноле́тие (law: state of being minor) · it prima infanzia (earliest period of childhood) · pl niepełnoletność (law: state of being minor) · ru ра́ннее де́тство (earliest period of childhood) · ru ра́ннее де́тство (state of being an infant) · tl kasanggulan (state of being an infant) · pl niemowlęctwo (state of being an infant) · ko 유아기 (earliest period of childhood) · la īnfantia (state of being an infant) · fi alaikäisyys (law: state of being minor) · pl niemowlęctwo (earliest period of childhood) · cmn 幼兒期 /幼儿期 (earliest period of childhood)