Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A child in the earliest period of life, especially before he or she can walk.
  • noun Law A person under the legal age of majority; a minor.
  • noun A very young nonhuman mammal, especially a primate.
  • adjective Of or being in infancy.
  • adjective Intended for infants or young children.
  • adjective Newly begun or formed.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun child during the earliest period of its life; a young child. See infancy.
  • noun In law, a person who is not of full age; specifically (in Great Britain, the United States, etc.), one who has not attained the age of twenty-one years.
  • noun A noble youth. See child, n., 8.
  • Of, pertaining to, characterized by, or characteristic of infancy; hence, tender; infantile; incipient: as, infant beauty; infant fortunes.
  • Of or pertaining to the legal state of infancy; minor.
  • Figuratively, not yet fully grown; still in an early stage of development or growth: as, infant colonies; an infant bud.
  • To bring forth as an infant; hence, to give origin or rise to.
  • noun A royal prince or princess of Spain or Portugal: as, the Infant Don Philip: not necessarily the heir to the throne. See infante, infanta.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To bear or bring forth, as a child; hence, to produce, in general.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to infancy, or the first period of life; tender; not mature.
  • adjective Intended for young children.
  • noun A child in the first period of life, beginning at his birth; a young babe; sometimes, a child several years of age.
  • noun (Law) A person who is not of full age, or who has not attained the age of legal capacity; a person under the age of twenty-one years; a minor.
  • noun obsolete Same as Infante.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A very young human being, from birth to somewhere between six months and two years of age, needing almost constant care and/or attention.
  • noun law A minor.
  • noun obsolete A noble or aristocratic youth.
  • verb obsolete To bear or bring forth (a child); to produce, in general.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French enfant, from Latin īnfāns, īnfant-, from īnfāns, not able to speak, young : in-, not; see in– + fāns, present participle of fārī, to speak; see bhā- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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.

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Examples

  • Assess whether the infant is a candidate for skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care) — the infant should be medically stable and not have a chest tube or intracardiac line (RA, LA).

    Guidelines for Skin-to-skin Contact 2010

  • If the infant is able to clear the virus from their body this will occur within the first 2 years of life.

    Hepatitis C 2010

  • Since you appear to believe there is no difference between the potential development of a blastocyst and the actual status of a term infant, you must also hold every sperm and ovum in the same regard.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local perplexedandsaddened 2010

  • Since you appear to believe there is no difference between the potential development of a blastocyst and the actual status of a term infant, you must also hold every sperm and ovum in the same regard.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local perplexedandsaddened 2010

  • Since you appear to believe there is no difference between the potential development of a blastocyst and the actual status of a term infant, you must also hold every sperm and ovum in the same regard.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local perplexedandsaddened 2010

  • Since you appear to believe there is no difference between the potential development of a blastocyst and the actual status of a term infant, you must also hold every sperm and ovum in the same regard.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local perplexedandsaddened 2010

  • Since you appear to believe there is no difference between the potential development of a blastocyst and the actual status of a term infant, you must also hold every sperm and ovum in the same regard.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local perplexedandsaddened 2010

  • Since you appear to believe there is no difference between the potential development of a blastocyst and the actual status of a term infant, you must also hold every sperm and ovum in the same regard.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local perplexedandsaddened 2010

  • Since you appear to believe there is no difference between the potential development of a blastocyst and the actual status of a term infant, you must also hold every sperm and ovum in the same regard.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local perplexedandsaddened 2010

  • Since you appear to believe there is no difference between the potential development of a blastocyst and the actual status of a term infant, you must also hold every sperm and ovum in the same regard.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local User 2010

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