Noun

children pl. (irregular plural of child)

1. More than one son or daughter, or none. Offspring.

   Do you have children?

   Yes, I have three children.

   No, I have no children.

2. More than one young person, or none.

   There are no children absent from classes today

3. Members of a tribe.

   The children of Israel

4. (figuratively) Things or abstractions derived from or caused by something.

   Poverty, disease, and despair are the children of war.

   • 1991, Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie (title)

Synonyms

• (more than one son or daughter): kids (people, goats), offspring, spawn (fish, frogs), litter (dogs, etc)
• (more than one young person): boys and girls, brats
• (members of a tribe): kinfolk, clan
• (figurative derivation): product

A child (plural: children) is a human between the stages of birth and puberty. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority. "Child" may also describe a relationship with a parent or authority figure, or signify group membership in a clan, tribe, or religion; it can also signify being strongly affected by a specific time, place, or circumstance, as in "a child of nature" or "a child of the Sixties."

Legal definitions

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as "a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. Ratified by 192 of 194 member countries. Biologically, a child is anyone in the developmental stage of childhood, between infancy and adulthood.

Quotes regarding children.

See also: Childhood

Contents

• 1 Sourced
  • 1.1 Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)
• 2 Unsourced
• 3 See also
• 4 External links

Sourced

• Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea...Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
  • Jesus Christ, Matthew 18:3-20 (KJV)

• You can't raise a child in a vacuum. All that carpet dust will clog up the kid's lungs.
  • Jacob M. Appel, American playwright, Arborophilia (2005)

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Tue Jan 26 09:50:40 2010