baby

baby

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of baby in English

English Online Dictionary. What means baby‎? What does baby mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English baby, babie (“baby”), a diminutive form of babe (“babe, baby”), equivalent to babe +‎ -y/-ie (“endearing and diminutive suffix”). Perhaps ultimately imitative of baby talk (compare babble).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: bā'bē, IPA(key): /ˈbeɪbi/
  • Rhymes: -eɪbi

Noun

baby (plural babies)

  1. A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered.
  2. A very young human, even if not yet born.
  3. Any very young animal, especially a vertebrate; many species have specific names for their babies, such as kittens for the babies of cats, puppies for the babies of dogs, and chicks for the babies of birds. See Category:Baby animals for more.
  4. A person who is immature, infantile or feeble.
  5. A person who is new to or inexperienced in something.
  6. The lastborn of a family; the youngest sibling, irrespective of age.
  7. A person's romantic partner; a term of endearment used to refer to or address one's girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse.
  8. (informal) A form of address to a person considered to be attractive.
  9. A concept or creation endeared by its creator.
  10. A pet project or responsibility.
  11. An affectionate term for anything.
  12. (archaic) A small image of an infant; a doll.
  13. (often attributive) One who is new to an identity or community.
    • 2021, Yve Rees, quoted in Sam Elkin & Yve Rees, "Spilling the T", Bent Street: Australian LGBTIQA+ Arts, Writing & Ideas, Volume 5, Issue 1, unnumbered page:
      As someone who is still a 'baby trans', these collaborations have taught me so much about what it means to live outside cisnormativity.

Synonyms

  • (young human being): babe, babby, babbie, infant, see also Thesaurus:baby
  • (young animal): see Thesaurus:youngling
  • (immature or infantile person): big baby
  • (term of endearment): love, see also Thesaurus:sweetheart

Descendants

Translations

See also

  • gamete, zygote, morula, blastocyst, embryo, fetus

Adjective

baby (comparative babier or babyer or baby-er, superlative babiest or babyest or baby-est)

  1. (of vegetables, etc.) Picked when small and immature (as in baby corn, baby potatoes).
  2. Newest (overall, or in some group or state); most inexperienced.
  3. (in the comparative or superlative) Like or pertaining to a baby, in size or youth; small, young.

Further reading

  • Raphael Sappan (1987) The Rhetorical-logical Classification of Semantic Changes, volume 5, page 58: “Baby. In its attributive uses, the word has the meaning 'small, tiny'. In the following sentence it is a metonym, still preserving its relation to the original meaning: “There is a babier baby than M.” (in the entry baby of the first volume of  […]”

Verb

baby (third-person singular simple present babies, present participle babying, simple past and past participle babied)

  1. (transitive) To coddle; to pamper somebody like an infant.
  2. (transitive) To tend (something) with care; to be overly attentive to (something), fuss over.
    • 1912, Linda Craig, interviewed by Theresa Forte, "Tree and Twig farm — a treasure chest of heirloom tomatoes," Welland Tribune, 25 May, 2012, [3]
      I have grown them for years and although some years are better than others, I have always had loads of tomatoes by not babying them, going easy on the water, and fertilizing with compost in the planting hole.

Translations

Derived terms

English terms starting with “baby”

Related terms

  • babe

See also

  • child
  • infant
  • toddler

References

Anagrams

  • Abby

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English baby.

Noun

baby c (singular definite babyen, plural indefinite babyer)

  1. A baby, an infant.
  2. (slang) An attractive young female.

Inflection

Synonyms

  • spædbarn

Derived terms

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English baby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbeːbi/
  • Hyphenation: ba‧by

Noun

baby m (plural baby's or babies, diminutive baby'tje n)

  1. baby (infant)
    Synonym: zuigeling

Derived terms

Finnish

Alternative forms

  • beibi

Etymology

From English baby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbei̯bi/, [ˈbe̞i̯bi]
  • IPA(key): /ˈbɑby/, [ˈbɑ̝by] (rare)
  • Rhymes: -eibi

Noun

baby

  1. baby (term of endearment)
  2. baby (very young human)

Declension

This spelling should preferably be used in nominative only as it does not fit into any standard inflection scheme.

Synonyms

  • (very young human) vauva
  • (term of endearment) kulta

Further reading

  • “baby”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English baby, from Middle English baby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ba.bi/

Noun

baby m (plural babys)

  1. table soccer, table football
  2. baby, darling, sweetheart
  3. Mary Jane shoes

Further reading

  • “baby”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Interlingua

Noun

baby

  1. baby

Synonyms

  • bebe

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English baby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɛ.bi/, (careful style) /ˈbe.bi/
  • Rhymes: -ɛbi, (careful style) -ebi

Noun

baby m (invariable)

  1. child, baby, neonate
  2. a small shot of whisky
  3. tripod for a film camera

Adjective

baby (invariable)

  1. for use by young children
  2. very young

References

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbabɨ/

Etymology 1

From German Baby, from English baby.

Noun

baby m anim or n

  1. baby (infant)
    Synonym: góletko
Declension

As a masculine noun:

As a neuter noun, indeclinable.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

baby

  1. inflection of baba:
    1. genitive singular
    2. nominative/accusative plural

Middle English

Alternative forms

  • babee, babi, babie

Etymology

From babe +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbaːbiː/, /ˈbabiː/

Noun

baby

  1. (rare) A child or baby.

Descendants

  • English: baby, babby, babbie (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: babbie

References

  • “bābe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English baby.

Noun

baby m (definite singular babyen, indefinite plural babyer, definite plural babyene)

  1. a baby

Synonyms

  • spedbarn

Derived terms

  • babymat
  • babyolje

References

  • “baby” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English baby.

Noun

baby m (definite singular babyen, indefinite plural babyar, definite plural babyane)

  1. a baby

Synonyms

  • spedbarn

Derived terms

  • babymat
  • babyolje

References

  • “baby” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Noun

baby f

  1. inflection of baba:
    1. genitive singular
    2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Slovak

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈbabi]

Noun

baby

  1. inflection of baba:
    1. genitive singular
    2. nominative/accusative plural

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English baby.

Noun

baby m (plural babys)

  1. baby

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

baby c

  1. a baby (very young human)
    Synonym: (more common) bebis, Synonym: (more formal) spädbarn

Usage notes

Uncommon outside compounds, especially in the plural. The plural "babies" mentioned in SO is likely to be seen as Swenglish in modern times.

Declension

References

  • baby in Svensk ordbok (SO)
  • baby in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.