Etymograph

English

child

Child comes from Middle English child ‘a child’, from Proto-Germanic *kelþaz ‘womb’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵelt-1‘womb’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kelþaz1‘womb’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kilþ1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ċild1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500child1‘a child’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611child1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English child
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “A boy, or a Childe I wonder?”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵelt-Wiktionary, English child‘womb’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kelþazWiktionary, English child‘womb’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kilþWiktionary, English childreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ċildWiktionary, English child
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500childWiktionary, English child‘a child’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611childWiktionary, English child. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “A boy, or a Childe I wonder?”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to ball up, amass’

clean, cold, cloud, globe, cluster, gel, jelly, colt, chill, clout, clot, gelatin, clough, gelato, glebe, ganglion, clod, globus, klutz, globulin, 48 more

through Old English ċild

stepchildren, 9 more

Today it means

noun A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “child”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt- / child

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