CHILDHOOD

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of a child between infancy and adolescence

Synonyms:

childhood; puerility

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("childhood" is a kind of...):

immatureness; immaturity (not having reached maturity)

Derivation:

child (a young person of either sex)

child (an immature childish person)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The time of person's life when they are a child

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("childhood" is a kind of...):

time of life (a period of time during which a person is normally in a particular life state)

Meronyms (parts of "childhood"):

anal phase; anal stage ((psychoanalysis) the second sexual and social stage of a child's development during which bowel control is learned)

latency period; latency phase; latency stage ((psychoanalysis) the fourth period (from about age 5 or 6 until puberty) during which sexual interests are supposed to be sublimated into other activities)

phallic phase; phallic stage ((psychoanalysis) the third stage in a child's development when awareness of and manipulation of the genitals is supposed to be a primary source of pleasure)

prepuberty (a period of two years immediately prior to the onset of puberty when growth and changes leading to sexual maturity occur)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "childhood"):

girlhood; maidenhood; maidhood (the childhood of a girl)

boyhood (the childhood of a boy)

Derivation:

child (a young person of either sex)

Credits

Context examples:

Mutation of the gene is associated with decreased sensitivity to the cytosine arabinoside that is used in the treatment of certain childhood leukemias.

(CDA wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Childhood cancers can occur suddenly, without early symptoms, and have a high rate of cure.

(Cancer in Children, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

Some of the nutrients in breast milk also help protect your infant against some common childhood illnesses and infections.

(Breastfeeding, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

Signs and symptoms appear in childhood and include seizures, hypotonia and developmental delays.

(Biotinidase Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

During childhood and your teens, your body adds new bone faster than it removes old bone.

(Bone Diseases, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

A disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others that is manifested in childhood or early adolescence.

(Antisocial Personality Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

Mutations in this gene are associated with infantile, childhood and adult hypophosphatasias and odontohypophosphatasia.

(ALPL wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

The study associated a high proportion of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, and a low proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids in blood with an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases already in childhood.

(Blood Fatty Acids Reveal Your Child's Diet, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

For example, there is a positive link between the moderate intake of milk during pregnancy and birth weight, length, and bone mineral content during childhood.

(Adequate intake of milk and dairy products in different life stages helps prevent chronic diseases, University of Granada)

The switch from childhood to adolescence brought about neurobiological, psychological and neuro-adaptive changes, which happen at the same time as important physical and hormonal transformations.