childhood
n.-
1 the time of being a child (n.) A2 Elementarythe years of your life when you are a child, before you become an adult.
the chronological period of a person's life from birth or infancy to the beginning of puberty.
ExampleShe spent most of her childhood living in a small house by the sea.
ExampleMany psychologists argue that the experiences we have during early childhood significantly shape our personality and social behaviour as adults.
UsageOften used with possessive adjectives like 'my childhood' or 'her childhood'.
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2 early development (n.) C1 Advanced Literarythe very beginning or early stages of something new.
the initial or formative stage of development of an abstract concept, organisation, or movement.
ExampleThe internet was still in its childhood when he started his first company.
ExampleThe space programme was in its childhood during the 1950s, with scientists still debating the basic physics of orbital mechanics.
UsageUsually used metaphorically to describe non-human entities.
From Middle English childhode, childhod, from Old English ċildhād (“childhood”). By surface analysis, child + -hood. Compare dialectal Dutch kindheid (“childishness”), German Low German Kinnerheid (“childhood”), and German Kindheit (“childhood”).