infancy

English

Etymology

From Middle English infancie, from Latin īnfantia (“infancy, early childhood; childishness”), equivalent to infant +‎ -cy.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɪnfənsi/
Audio (Southern England) (file)

Noun

infancy (countable and uncountable, plural infancies)

The earliest period of childhood (crawling rather than walking).
The state of being an infant.
(figurative) An early stage in the development of anything.
Space tourism is still in its infancy.
- 1941 May, Voyageur, “The Clogher Valley Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 195:
  It was in November, 1932, in an endeavour to reduce working costs, that the first diesel railcar was introduced, and it was a far-sighted move on the part of Mr. D. N. McClure, for diesel propulsion on railways was then more or less in its infancy.
(law) The state of being a minor.

Synonyms

(earliest period of childhood):

infanthood
babyhood

(state of being an infant):

babyship

(state of being a minor):

infanthood

Translations

earliest period of childhood

Bulgarian: ранно детство n (ranno detstvo)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 嬰兒期／婴儿期 (zh) (yīng'érqī, yīng'érqí), 幼兒期／幼儿期 (zh) (yòu'érqī, yòu'érqí)
Finnish: vauvaikä, varhaislapsuus (fi)
German: Säuglingsphase f, frühe Kindheit f
Italian: prima infanzia f
Japanese: 乳児期 (にゅうじき, nyūjiki)
Korean: 유아기 (ko) (yuagi)
Latin: īnfantia f
Middle English: infancie
Russian: младе́нчество (ru) n (mladénčestvo), ра́ннее де́тство n (ránneje détstvo)

state of being an infant

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: lapsuus (fi); vauvaikä
German: frühe Kindheit f
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: dergûşî (ku) n
Latin: īnfantia f
Middle English: infancie
Russian: младе́нчество (ru) n (mladénčestvo), ра́ннее де́тство n (ránneje détstvo)
Tagalog: kasanggulan

early state in development

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: alkuvaihe (fi)
German: Anfangsphase (de) f
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: dergûşî (ku) n

law: state of being minor

Bulgarian: непълнолетие n (nepǎlnoletie)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: alaikäisyys (fi)
Persian: صغیر‎ (fa) (saqir)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Telugu: ^{(please verify)} శైశవము (te) (śaiśavamu) (SaiSavamu), ^{(please verify)} పసితనం (pasitanaṁ) (pasitanaM)

Middle English

Noun

infancy

Alternative form of infancie