childhood

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   The years of a person's life when they are a child, before they grow up.

   Grammar: Often singular with a possessive: my childhood; the general idea is uncountable: childhood is short.

   Patterns

   • in someone's childhood
   • since childhood
   • during childhood

   She spent her childhood on a farm in Ohio.

   He still remembers the smell of his grandmother's kitchen from childhood.

   Many habits formed in early childhood last a lifetime.

2. 2nounsingularfigurative

   The early stage of something's existence, when it has barely begun to develop.

   Grammar: Used figuratively, usually with a possessive or 'in its': the industry is in its childhood.

   Patterns

   • in its childhood

   Space tourism is still in its childhood.

   The internet was in its childhood in the early nineties.

Word forms

Common combinations

happy childhood

He talked about his happy childhood by the sea.

early childhood

She works in early childhood education.

since childhood

I have been afraid of dogs since childhood.

childhood memories

The old song brought back childhood memories.

childhood friend

Her childhood friend still lives next door.

a difficult childhood

Despite a difficult childhood, he became a teacher.

Synonyms and how they differ

boyhood

Boyhood is the childhood of a boy specifically, so it is narrower than childhood.

girlhood

Girlhood refers only to a girl's early years and often has a slightly nostalgic tone.

youth

Youth covers a wider span that includes the teenage years, not only the early years.

infancy

Infancy means the very first years of life, so it is much earlier and shorter than childhood.

Opposites

Word family

child noun

a young person who is not yet an adult

childish adjective

silly in the way a young child is; often critical

childlike adjective

innocent and simple like a child; usually positive

children noun

the plural of child

Commonly confused: childhood or childishness?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “childhood”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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