Meaning & use
infant
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Meanings
nouncountableformal
A baby or very young child, especially one who cannot yet walk or talk.
Grammar: A somewhat formal word, common in medical and official writing.
Patterns
- an infant of age
- infant care
The nurse weighed the infant carefully.
Infants need to feed every few hours.
The clinic offers vaccines for infants under one year.
nouncountablelegal
A person who is not yet legally an adult.
Grammar: A legal term; in everyday speech people say minor.
Patterns
- an infant under the law
In law, an infant cannot sign most contracts.
The court appointed a guardian for the infant.
Property left to an infant is held in trust.
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to or intended for very young children, or at an early stage of development.
Grammar: Used before a noun: infant school, infant mortality.
Patterns
- infant school
- infant industry
Infant mortality has fallen sharply in recent decades.
The country's infant industries need protection.
She teaches at an infant school near the park.
Word forms
| plural | infants |
|---|
Common combinations
- newborn infant
- The newborn infant slept through the night.
- infant mortality
- Infant mortality is lower in countries with good clinics.
- infant formula
- Infant formula is sold in powdered form.
- infant school
- He started infant school at five.
- infant care
- The center specializes in infant care.
- premature infant
- The premature infant spent a month in hospital.
Synonyms and how they differ
- baby
- Baby is the warm, everyday word, while infant sounds more clinical.
- newborn
- Newborn refers only to the first few weeks, which makes it narrower than infant.
- toddler
- Toddler describes an older child who is just learning to walk.
- tot
- Tot is informal and affectionate and may refer to a slightly older small child.
Opposites
Word family
- infancy noun
- the early period of life, or an early stage of something
- infantile adjective
- childish, or relating to infants
- infanticide noun
- the killing of a baby
- infantry noun
- foot soldiers, from the same Latin root
Commonly confused: infant or infantile? infant or infantry?
infant vs infantile
Infantile means childish in a negative way, as in infantile behavior, while infant is a neutral word for a baby.
infant vs infantry
Infantry means soldiers who fight on foot and is not related to babies in meaning.
Practice
Which sentence uses infant most naturally in a formal or medical setting?
Choose one answer.
An infant is a baby under about a year, so a check-up at six months fits. The other options describe things a baby cannot do.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “infant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.