baby

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

English

Etymology

From Middle English babee, babi (“baby”), from babe (“babe, baby”), equivalent to babe +‎ -y/-ie (“endearing and diminutive suffix”).

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. 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.
3. Unborn young; a fetus.

   When is your baby due?

4. A person who is immature or infantile.

   Stand up for yourself - don't be such a baby!

5. Term of endearment for a girlfriend or boyfriend or spouse.
6. (informal) A form of address to a man or a woman considered to be attractive.

   Hey baby, what are you doing later?

7. A pet project or responsibility.
   • 1996, Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy, Folio Society 2015, p. 902:

     Sovnarkom was Lenin's baby, it was where he focused all his energies […].

8. The lastborn of a family.
9. An affectionate term for anything.

   See my new car here? I can't wait to take this baby for a drive.

10. (archaic) A small image of an infant; a doll.

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

Translations

See also

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

Adjective

baby (not comparable) (used only before the noun)

1. Of a child: very young; of the age when he or she would be termed a baby or infant.

   a baby boy

2. Of an animal: young.

   a baby elephant

3. Intended for babies.

   baby clothes

4. (of vegetables, etc.) Picked when small and immature (as in baby corn, baby potatoes).

Usage notes

When referring to a human baby (as per noun sense 1 above) the usual practice is to treat 'human' as the adjective and 'baby' as the noun.

Synonyms

• (very young, of a child): little
• (intended for babies): baby's, babies'

Translations

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.
   • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, Chapter, [2]

     […] though he tried to be gruff and mature, he yielded to her and was glad to be babied.

   • 1944, Emily Carr, The House of All Sorts, "Friction," [3]

     Then the man effected measles and stayed off the job for six weeks, babying himself at home, though he lived just round the corner from my half-built house.

2. (transitive) To tend (something) with care; to be overly attentive to (something), fuss over.
   • 1967, "Mr. Mac and His Team," Time, 31 March, 1967, [4]

     In the past 27 years, "Mr. Mac," as he is known to his 46,000 teammates, has built and babied his McDonnell Co. from nothing into a $1 billion-a-year corporation.

   • 1912, Linda Craig, interviewed by Theresa Forte, "Tree and Twig farm — a treasure chest of heirloom tomatoes," Welland Tribune, 25 May, 2012, [5]

     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.

Derived terms

Pages starting with "baby".

Related terms

• babe

See also

• child
• infant
• toddler

Anagrams

• Abby

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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

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Dutch

Etymology

From English baby.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeːbi/

Noun

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

1. baby (infant)

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Finnish

Alternative forms

• beibi

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ba‧by
• IPA^(key): /ˈbei̯bi/, [ˈbe̞i̯bi]
• (rare) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑby/, [ˈbɑby]

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

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French

Etymology

From English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.bi/

Noun

baby m (plural babys)

1. table soccer, table football
2. baby, darling, sweetheart

Further reading

• “baby” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Interlingua

Noun

baby

1. baby

Synonyms

• bebe

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Italian

Noun

baby m (invariable)

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

Adjective

baby (invariant)

1. For use by young children
2. Very young

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Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbabɨ]

Noun

baby

1. genitive singular of baba
2. nominative plural of baba
3. accusative plural of baba

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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.

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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.

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Spanish

Noun

baby m (plural babys)

1. baby