noun
childhood
The period of a person's life as a child.
She remembers her childhood summers spent playing beside the river near her home.
Etymology
The ending names a state or condition. Joined to child, it identifies the stage of life during which a person has that status.
More examples
- They have been friends since childhood.
- His memoir describes a happy childhood.
- The siblings recall their childhoods differently.
Forms
childhood · childhoods
Similar words
- adolescence
- Adolescence is the transition toward adulthood; childhood includes earlier years.