childhood

noun

1. 1

   The state of being a child.

   Of a ſuretie, it is a ioyfull thynge to reioyce in the chyldhode of chyldren, but it is a ryght cruel thing to ſuffre the importunities of their mothers.

   To our own surprise, our 40-year study of 1,000 children revealed that childhood self-control strongly predicts adult success, in people of high or low intelligence, in rich or poor, and does so throughout the entire population, with a step change in health, wealth, and social success at every level of self-control.

   I recall with intense pleasure my discovery in childhood of the Greek myths and Homer's "Iliad," in various editions, from an early acquaintance with d'Aulaire’s to Roger Lancelyn Green's versions and, at the French school I attended for several years, a collection memorably entitled "Mythes et Légendes du Monde Grecque et Barbare."

2. 2

   The time during which one is a child, from between infancy and puberty.

   He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood.

3. 3

   The early stages of development of something.

   the childhood of our joy

Forms

plural

childhoods