childhood Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the time of person's life when they are a child
  2. noun the state of a child between infancy and adolescence
    puerility.

WordNet

Child"hood noun
Etymology
AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.
Definitions
  1. The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty.
    I have walked before you from my childhood. 1. Sam. xii. 2.
  2. Children, taken collectively. R.
    The well-governed childhood of this realm. Sir. W. Scott.
  3. The commencement; the first period.
    The childhood of our joy. Shak.

Webster 1913