Infant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪn.fÉ™nt/
• Rhymes: -ɪnfÉ™nt

Alternative forms

• infaunt obsolete

Origin

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.

Full definition of infant

Noun

1. A very young human being, from birth to somewhere between six months and two years of age, needing almost constant care and/or attention.
2. (legal) A minor.
3. (obsolete) A noble or aristocratic youth.
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.2:Retourned home, the royall Infant fell
  Into her former fitt ....

Related terms

• infanticide
• infantile

Verb

1. (obsolete) To bear or bring forth (a child); to produce, in general.
• MiltonThis worthy motto, "No bishop, no king," is ... infanted out of the same fears.----