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infancy
CIDE DICTIONARY
infancy, n. [L. infantia: cf. F. enfance. See Infant.].
- The state or period of being an infant; the first part of life; early childhood. [1913 Webster]"The babe yet lies in smiling infancy." [1913 Webster]"Their love in early infancy began." [1913 Webster]
- The first age of anything; the beginning or early period of existence; as, the infancy of an art. [1913 Webster]"The infancy and the grandeur of Rome." [1913 Webster]
- The state or condition of one under age, or under the age of twenty-one years; nonage; minority. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
infancy, n. (pl. -ies)
1 early childhood; babyhood.
2 an early state in the development of an idea, undertaking, etc.
3 Law the state of being a minor.
1 early childhood; babyhood.
2 an early state in the development of an idea, undertaking, etc.
3 Law the state of being a minor.
Etymology
L infantia (as INFANT)
DEVIL DICTIONARY
infancy
n. The period of our lives when, according to Wordsworth, "Heaven lies about us." The world begins lying about us pretty soon afterward.THESAURUS
infancy
babyhood, beginnings, birth, callowness, childhood, commencement, cradle, dawn, dewiness, disability, disablement, disqualification, early, emergence, freshman year, freshness, genesis, greenness, imbecility, immaturity, inability, inadequacy, incapability, incapacitation, incapacity, inception, inchoation, incipience, incipiency, incompetence, incompetency, incunabula, inefficiency, ineptitude, inexperience, inferiority, initial, insufficiency, juiciness, juniority, juvenility, legal incapacity, minority, my Angel-infancy, nascence, nascency, nativity, nonage, origin, origination, parturition, pregnancy, rawness, rise, sappiness, stages, start, the nursery, undevelopment, unfitness, unripeness, wardship, youthROGET THESAURUS
infancy
Beginning
N beginning, commencement, opening, outset, incipience, inception, inchoation, introduction, alpha, initial, inauguration, debut, le premier pas, embarcation, rising of the curtain, maiden speech, outbreak, onset, brunt, initiative, move, first move, narrow end of the wedge, thin end of the wedge, fresh start, new departure, origin, source, rise, bud, germ, egg, rudiment, genesis, primogenesis, birth, nativity, cradle, infancy, start, inception, creation, starting point, dawn, evolution, title-page, head, heading, van, caption, fatihah, entrance, entry, inlet, orifice, mouth, chops, lips, porch, portal, portico, propylon, door, gate, gateway, postern, wicket, threshold, vestibule, propylaeum, skirts, border, first stage, first blush, first glance, first impression, first sight, rudiments, elements, outlines, grammar, alphabet, ABC, beginning, initial, initiatory, initiative, inceptive, introductory, incipient, proemial, inaugural, inchoate, inchoative, embryonic, rudimental, primogenial, primeval, primitive, primordial, aboriginal, natal, nascent, first, foremost, leading, maiden, begun, just begun, at the beginning, in the beginning first, in the first place, imprimis, first and foremost, in limine, in the bud, in embryo, in its infancy, from the beginning, from its birth, ab initio, ab ovo, ab incunabilis, ab origine, let's get going!, let's get this show on the road!, up and at 'em!, aller Anfang ist schwer, dimidium facti qui coepit habet, omnium rerum principia parva sunt.Youth
N youth, juvenility, juvenescence, juniority, infancy, babyhood, childhood, boyhood, girlhood, youthhood, incunabula, minority, nonage, teens, tender age, bloom, cradle, nursery, leading strings, pupilage, puberty, pucelage, prime of life, flower of life, springtide of life, seedtime of life, golden season of life, heyday of youth, school days, rising generation, young, youthful, juvenile, green, callow, budding, sappy, puisne, beardless, under age, in one's teens, in statu pupillari, younger, junior, hebetic, unfledged, youth on the prow and pleasure at the helm, youth a the glad season of life.For further exploring for "infancy" in Webster Dictionary Online