baby

 

A human baby

 

A baby monkey

 

A baby elephant (sometimes called a calf)

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). ^[1]

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

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

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• Audio (General American):

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• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -eɪbi

baby (plural babies)

1. A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XLIV, page 67:

     The baby new to earth and sky,
     ⁠What time his tender palm is prest
     ⁠Against the circle of the breast,
     Has never thought that ‘this is I:’ […]

   • 2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn't disappoint”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     In that film, I often hid my head in my hands, unable to watch scenes about dead babies and diving into gruesome lavatories.

2. A very young human, even if not yet born.

   When is your baby due?

   Her baby had always been active, even before he was born, when he would kick her bladder.

   • 2013 June 7, Natalie Pierce, Weaving My Way Through Life, Author House, →ISBN, page 44:

     Karen went to England to have her baby several months before he was born so he would have the medication she needed before the baby was born and she wanted the doctors she was used to when she lived there. It would be cheaper to have the baby in England. Karen named the baby Bill Joseph […] He laughed a lot and loved his bath which he took in a plastic baby tub.

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.

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

5. A person who is new to or inexperienced in something.

   I only qualified as an architect this summer, so I'm still a baby.

6. The lastborn of a family; the youngest sibling, irrespective of age.

   Adam is the baby of the family.

   • 1895, S. R. Crockett, A Cry Across the Black Water:

     "You are very dull this morning, Sheriff," said the youngest daughter of the house, who, being the baby and pretty, had grown pettishly privileged in speech.

   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 114:

     "He's a year older than me." "You're the baby, eh?"

7. A person's romantic partner; a term of endearment used to refer to or address one's girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse.

   Too busy thinking about my baby, and I ain't got time for nothing else.

   Baby, don't cry.

   • 1956, “Heartbreak Hotel”, Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden, Elvis Presley (lyrics), performed by Elvis Presley:

     Well, since my baby left me,
     Well, I found a new place to dwell.
     Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street
     At Heartbreak Hotel.

8. (informal) A form of address to a person considered to be attractive.

   Hey baby, what are you doing later?

9. A concept or creation endeared by its creator.

   This test program I've designed is my new baby.

10. A pet project or responsibility.

    You need to talk to John about that – it's his baby.

    • 1996, Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy, Folio Society, published 2015, page 902:

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

11. An affectionate term for anything.

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

12. (archaic) A small image of an infant; a doll.
13. (often attributive) One who is new to an identity or community.
    • 2020, Nina Kahn, The Joy of Hex: Modern Spells Without All the Bullsh*t‎^[2], unnumbered page:

      These more general spells and rituals can also be helpful for baby witches, who might want more time to practice before they hop into highly-specific spells.

    • 2020, Jane Kolven, The Holiday Detour, unnumbered page:

      That was even worse than blurting my sexuality like I had when I was what we called a “baby dyke” in college, desperate to find other lesbians for friendship or more.

    • 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.

• (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

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

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.
   • 1894, Marion Harland, The Royal Road, Or, Taking Him at His Word, page 136:

     Mrs. Paull held out her hand to the babyest of the quartette, as they tiptoed up to the bed. “Lift her up, please, Marie!” she said, motioning to the place enclosed by her arm. When the rosy cheek touched hers upon the pillow, she asked ...

   • 1910, Marion Harland, Marion Harland's Autobiography: The Story of a Long Life, page 408:

     That evening, we grouped about the fire in the parlor, a wide circle that left room for the babyest of the party to disport themselves upon the rug, in the glow of the grate piled with cannel coal.

   • 2006, Marion Halligan, The Apricot Colonel, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN:

     Of when I was a baby editor. Very baby, it was actually a kind of work experience, I was still at university but I knew what I wanted. With a small independent publisher, good reputation, did some marvellous books, […]

   • 2020, Hannah Abigail Clarke, The Scapegracers, Erewhon, →ISBN, page 391:

     […] party for Halloween proper? Just the four of us and some goofy, spooky kids' movies, you know? Some cute pumpkin-shaped cupcakes? I could make my dog a little costume. He could be a baby witch. The babyest Scapegracer.” I blinked.

3. (in the comparative or superlative) Like or pertaining to a baby, in size or youth; small, young.
   • 1888, Monthly Packet, page 170:

     Spider. Here let us begin at the beginning, at the babyest of books for Edith's nursery.

   • 1894, Edith E. Cuthell, Two Little Children and Ching, page 107:

     She let it drop out of her sleeve, and it was two Chings — the dearest, littlest, babyest, tiny Chings — little balls of fur! And she ran away, and daddy's father picked them up, and put them in his pockets, and brought them home, […]

   • 1908, Marion Harland, Housekeeper's Guide and Family Physician, page 98:

     Lemon-juice for ink spots: Not many weeks ago the babyest member of our household - perhaps moved by a hereditary tendency toward ink - slinging - divided the contents of an ink bottle impartially between the tiles of the bath-room floor ...

   • 1908, Mary Findlater, Jane Helen Findlater, Crossriggs, page 25:

     "There's a babier baby than Mike," she said. "But you will see her to-morrow. Aren't we rich? Come in and see Matilda - you won't find her much changed. It's so absurd to see her with all these children."

   • 1936, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Military Affairs, To Promote the National Defense by Stengthening the Air Reserve, Hearings ..., on H.R. 4348, 12241, Feb 27, April 22, 1936, page 31:

     Now, we all believe in national defense, but we also believe in peacetime activity, and my personal idea about aviation is that it is still in its absolute “babyest” type of infancy, that it is nothing even approaching what it will be even 10 years [from now].

   • 1937 August 7, “Recreation Activities in City Attain New Peak in Past Week”, in The State Journal, eighty-third year, Lansing, Mich., section “Doll Show at Allen”, page 2, column 7:

     A doll show held the attention of children at Allen as a special feature during the week. Winners were: […] baby-est doll, Betty McQueary.

   • 1940 October 22, Charles P. Stewart, “Washington At A Glance”, in The Evening Independent, volume LXXIV, number 130, Massillon, Oh., page five, column 2:

     He’ll [Joseph H. Ball] be our baby senator for the next two years. Senator Rush D. Holt of West Virginia will be his baby rival briefly, but Rush is a lame duck. He’ll be out of the picture at the end of the year and Joe will be the baby-est of them all.

   • 1960 August 4, Herb Smith, “Recreation In Cedar Grove”, in Verona-Cedar Grove Times, volume XII, number 31, Verona, N.J., page 26, column 2:

     The victorious individuals were as follows: Doll Contest— […] “baby-est,” 1st, Mary Grew, 2nd, Susan Shamlian;

   • 2007 August 2, Liz Nicholls, “Gala to mark Teatro’s entry into the quarter-century club”, in Edmonton Journal, Edmonton, Alta., page D3, column 1:

     One of them, Allure Potemkin (and don’t you wish that was your name?), hikes up her slip and does a riotous dance number called Baby Legs. Leona Brausen, whose own dimpled gams — “baby-er than ever” as she says — inspired the role, is back onstage Saturday to dance the dance for the last time.

• 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  […]”

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, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:

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

   • 1944, Emily Carr, “Friction”, in The House of All Sorts:

     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 March 31, “Mr. Mac and His Team”, in Time:

     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, [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.

English terms starting with “baby”

• babe

• child
• infant
• toddler

• Abby

 

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

baby

Wikipedia ^da

Borrowed from English baby.

baby c (singular definite babyen, plural indefinite babyer)

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

• spædbarn

Borrowed from English baby.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeːbi/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: ba‧by

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

1. baby (infant)

   Synonym: zuigeling

• beibi

From English baby.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbei̯bi/, [ˈbe̞i̯bi]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbɑby/, [ˈbɑ̝by] (rare)

baby

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

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

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

• “baby”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja‎^[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

Borrowed from English baby, from Middle English baby.

• IPA^(key): /ba.bi/

• Audio:

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baby m (plural babys)

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

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

baby

1. baby

• bebe

Unadapted borrowing from English baby.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.bi/, (careful style) /ˈbe.bi/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɛbi, (careful style) -ebi

baby m (invariable)

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

baby (invariable)

1. for use by young children
2. very young

• IPA^(key): /ˈbabɨ/

From German Baby, from English baby.

baby m anim or n

1. baby (infant)

   Synonym: góletko

As a masculine noun:

As a neuter noun, indeclinable.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

baby

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

• babee, babi, babie

From babe +‎ -y.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaːbiː/, /ˈbabiː/

baby

1. (rare) A child or baby.

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

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

 

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

Spedbarn

Wikipedia ^no

From English baby.

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

1. a baby

• spedbarn

• babymat
• babyolje

• “baby” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

 

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

Spedbarn

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

From English baby.

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

1. a baby

• spedbarn

• babymat
• babyolje

• “baby” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

baby f

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

• IPA^(key): [ˈbabi]

baby

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

Unadapted borrowing from English baby.

baby m (plural babys)

1. baby

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.

• Audio:

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baby c

1. a baby (very young human)

   Synonym: (more common) bebis, Synonym: (more formal) spädbarn

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

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