Meaning & use
infancy
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
The period of life when a person is a baby or very young child.
Grammar: No article is used: from infancy, during infancy. It is not countable: not an infancy.
Patterns
- during infancy
- from infancy
- in infancy
The disease is usually detected during infancy.
Children learn language rapidly from infancy.
She was separated from her mother in early infancy.
noununcountableformalfigurative
The early stage of something's development, before it is fully formed or established.
Grammar: Often used with in: The project is still in its infancy.
Patterns
- in its infancy
- the infancy of something
The technology is still in its infancy.
The company was in its infancy when the market changed.
Space tourism is in its infancy compared with air travel.
Common combinations
- in its infancy
- The industry is still in its infancy.
- during infancy
- Good nutrition during infancy affects later health.
- from infancy
- He has had poor eyesight from infancy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- babyhood
- Babyhood is less formal and focuses on the baby stage; infancy is the standard term in medical and academic writing.
- childhood
- Childhood covers a much longer period, from about age two to the teenage years, while infancy is only the earliest part.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: infancy or infantile?
infancy vs infantile
Infantile is an adjective meaning baby-like or childish; infancy is the noun for the stage of being a baby.
Practice
The new industry is still in its ______.
Choose one answer.
'In its infancy' is the fixed phrase for an early stage of development. 'Infant' and 'infants' are nouns for babies, and 'infantile' is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “infancy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.