▪ I. infant, n.1 (a.)
(ˈɪnfənt)
Forms: 4–5 enfaunt, infaunt, 6 enfant, infante, (7 inphant), 6– infant.
[a. OF. enfant, -aunt (F. enfant, Pr. enfan, Sp., Pg., It. infante) child:—L. infāns, infānt-em child, n. use of infāns unable to speak, f. in- (in-3) + fāns, pres. pple. of fā-rī to speak. Aphetized faunt.]
1. a. A child during the earliest period of life (or still unborn); now most usually applied to a child in arms, a babe; but often extended to include any child under seven years of age (cf. infant-class, infant-school); in early use (esp. when transl. L. infāns, or F. enfant) used in the wider sense of ‘child’, and thus passing into the legal sense 2.
| 1382 Wyclif Zech. viii. 5 And streetis of the citee shuln be fulfillid with infauntis [1388 ȝonge children] and maydens, pleyinge in the stretis of it. ― 1 John ii. 14, I wrijte to ȝou, infauntis [gloss or ȝonge children], for ȝe han knowe the fadir. c 1440 Gesta Rom. i. xlviii. 209 (Harl. MS.) Gothe swyftly..to the house of the forster,..and takithe of him the litle Infaunt, that his wyf this nyght chylded. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 141 in Babees Bk. (1868) 303 Yf that þou be a ȝong enfaunt, And thenke þo scoles for to haunt. 1582 N.T. (Rhem.) Luke xviii. 15 They brought vnto him infants also, that he might touche them. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 397 The burthen..hath sense & feeling about the sixe and thirtieth day, and from that time forward it is called an infant. But as yet it is voyde of motion. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 143 The Infant, Mewling, and puking in the Nurses armes. 1655 Milton Sonn., Massacre Piedmont, The bloody Piemontese, that rolled Mother with infant down the rocks. 1710 Parnell Hermit 151 The closed cradle where an infant slept. 1818 Cruise Digest xxviii. xvii. (ed. 2) 469 It was held that a devise to an infant in ventre matris,..was good, which began with an allowance for the birth of a posthumous child. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. liv, An infant crying in the night: An infant crying for the light: And with no language but a cry. |
b. fig. One who is a ‘child’, or very young beginner, in some department.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 12 b, They were ledde by Moyses as yonge infantes and tender babes in fayth. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho., New sorts Soyle 9 Whereby all those that be the true infantes of Art, may receive a full light into Nature. 1899 N.B. Daily Mail 16 Feb. 5 As every political infant cannot fail to recognise, the whole question was..unconnected with party politics. |
c. transf. A thing newly come into existence, or in its earliest stage.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. xcvi. vi, Leavy infants of the wood. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iii. 39 The Canker Galls, the Infants of the Spring. 1608 Hieron Defence iii. 139 Reputed an infant and a novelty, rather then an antiquity. 1890 Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 215 The..questioning of old Paul..seemed adverse to the Utopian infant. |
2. A person under (legal) age; a minor. In common law, one who has not completed his or her twenty-first year; in the case of a ruler, one who has not reached the age at which he becomes constitutionally capable of exercising sovereignty.
| [1376 Rolls of Parlt. II. 342/2 La Fyn ou Note se leva tan qe come l'Enfant estoit deinz age.] 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 774, I may require it for hym, except the lawe geve the infaunt a guarden onely for his goods. 1601 F. Tate Househ. Ord. Edw. II §25 (1876) 17 The infantes which happen to be the kinges wardes, shal have wages, and liverees, and al other necessaries, according to their estate. 1603 Owen Pembrokesh. (1890) 19 [He] was governed by tutours beinge an inphant. 1624 Coke On Litt. 2 b, An infant or minor (whom we call any that is under the age of 21 yeares). 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. x. §684. 295 An enfant who is a feoffee shall give notice, and an enfant who is Lord shall take notice. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 460 The privileges and disabilities of an infant, or one under age and subject to guardianship. 1786 W. Thomson Philip III (1839) 249 Mary de Medicis sole regent of France during the minority of her son, an infant in the ninth year of his age. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law xiii. 81 Although..until a recent period an infant might have appointed a guardian to his children by deed or will, yet it seems that he can no longer do so by will. |
| fig. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. Wks. 1738 I. 521 The Judges..swear, that they will do nothing judicially, but according to Law, though the King by Word, or Mandate, or Letters under his own Seal, should command the contrary. Hence it is that the King is often said in our Law to be an Infant; and to possess his Rights and Dignities, as a Child or a Ward does his. |
† 3. A youth of noble or gentle birth. Cf. infant n.2, child 5. Obs.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. viii. 56 To whom the Infant thus: ‘Fayre sir, what need Good turnes be counted as a servile bond?’ 1596 Ibid. vi. viii. 25 The Infant [Arthur] hearkned wisely to her tale. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xvi. xxxiv, The noble Infant [Rinaldo] stood a space Confused, speechless. |
4. Humorously applied to various productions of exceptional size, strength, etc. (See quots.)
| 1832 Brighton Gazette in Blew Brighton & its Coaches (1893) 187 Mr. Walter Hancock's steam-carriage, the ‘Infant’, was on the way from London to this place on an experimental trip. 1874 Graphic 5 Dec. 538/1 The heaviest gun now actually in position, commonly called the Woolwich Infant,..weighs 35 tons. 1888 Pall Mall G. 6 June 2/2 The speciality of Woolwich is its big guns, its now famous and historic ‘infants’. |
5. attrib. (or adj.) (When appositive or attrib., often equivalent to an adj. = infantile, infantine.) a. appositive. That is an infant or like an infant, as infant angel, infant God, infant heir, infant king, infant martyr, infant poor, infant prodigy, infant warrior, etc.
| 1595 Daniel Civ. Wars i. xxxiv, Kingdomes euer suffer this distresse, For one or manie, guide the infant king. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 113 The Hotspur Mars, in swathing Clothes, This Infant Warrior. 1629 Milton Hymn Christ's Nativ. 16 A present to the Infant God. 1678 Dryden & Lee Œdipus iv. i, All the riches That empire could bestow.. Upon its infant heir. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. xii. (1851) 241 A poor indigent King, surrounded with so many Infant-Priests and Doctors. a 1704 T. Brown Praise Drunkenness Wks. 1730 I. 37 Cheeks like those the Painters give to infant-angels. 1720 Welton Suffer. Son of God I. ix. 231 Thou wouldst not suffer those Infant-Martyrs..to endure so much as Thy Self. 1831 [see prodigy 3 c]. 1872 J. A. H. Murray Complaynt of Scotl. Introd. viii, Of the three centuries of Scottish history [1300–1600]..nearly a century and a half were occupied by the reigns of infant sovereigns. 1874 Farrar Christ ii, The recognition of the Infant Saviour by Simeon and Anna. a 1900 Mod. The presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple. 1924 R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind ii. §4. 49 Infant-prodigies who fail to live up to their early promise. 1939 F. Pratt Secret & Urgent i. 25 He was Jean Fran{cced}ois Champollion, an infant prodigy. |
b. appositive (or adj.). In its earliest stage, newly existing, ungrown, undeveloped, nascent, incipient, as infant blossom, infant civilization, infant code, infant colony, infant commerce, infant community, infant convert, infant fruit, infant industry (see quot. 1914), infant letters, infant navy, infant sorrow, infant spring, infant world, etc.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1096 Old woes, not infant sorrows, bear them mild. 1671 Grew Anat. Pl. i. vi. §2 Upon observation of a young and Infant-Apple. 1707 J. Archdale Carolina 23 Vast expence upon such an Infant Colony. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 95 The soil that arts and infant letters bore. 1779 F. Hervey Nav. Hist. II. 144 Of all the infant settlements in America, New-England alone..acknowledged the authority of the commonwealth. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 43 Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 154 The ruin of commerce and the almost total extinction of an infant credit. 1820 Keats Hyperion i. 26 She was a Goddess of the infant world. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 43 The unequal contest..of England's infant navy against the..supremacy of the Hanseatic Confederacy. 1870 Congress. Globe App. 29 Mar. 240/3 But, argue our defenders of monopoly, let us protect our infant industries, and when they have grown to manhood..they will need no further protection. 1906 Daily Chron. 17 Oct. 6/5 The argument for Protection there is not at all the infant-industry argument. 1914 Cycl. Amer. Govt. II. 176 Infant Industry. This term is applied to the need of protecting new industries in order to give them opportunity to compete with older foreign establishments. |
6. attrib. (or adj.). Of or belonging to an infant or infants, proper to or intended for an infant or infants; childlike; childish; infantile, as infant bands, infant blood, infant breath, infant class, infant cradle, infant eye, infant gaud, infant state, infant softness, infant weakness, infant welfare, infant years, etc. infant mistress, a woman teacher of infants at an elementary school; infant mortality, the death of infants, spec. of those less than a year old. Also infant-school, q.v.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxi. ix, By thee from infant cradle Taught. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, Epil. 9 Henry the Sixt, in Infant Bands crown'd King. 1651–3 Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year (1678) 282 Though it be a shame to us to need such allectives and infant-gauds. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 78 The murderous king..who sought his life, and missing filled With infant blood the streets of Bethlehem. a 1711 Ken Hymns Festiv. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 386 You in their Infant-age, To tender them engage. 1720 Welton Suffer. Son of God I. viii. 190 Even thro' Thy Infant-State, I behold Thy Majesty. Ibid. iv. 76 That Infant-Weakness which Thou took'st upon Thee! 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 392 The joys and sorrows of our infant-years. 1877 W. R. Alger Life Edwin Forrest I. 147 The rate of infant mortality may be reduced to one per cent of its present murderous average. 1918 79th Ann. Rep. Registrar-General 1916 (Cd. 8869) 35 Infant welfare organisations might well devote special attention to the first days of the life of illegitimate children. 1921 N.Z. Educ. Gaz. 1 Nov. 12/2 (Advt.), Infant-mistress—South Wellington (Grade VII g): {pstlg}310–{pstlg}320. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 650/2 Infant Welfare Centres.—The first task has been to coördinate the work at the Infant Centre and the visitation of the mothers in their own homes. a 1930 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) 18 Last week the infant mistress did not come up, so I was alone. 1939 M. Spring Rice Working-Class Wives p. vii, The high rates of infant mortality..in the early years of the present century. Ibid., Better methods of mothercraft through the influence of the Infant Welfare Centre. 1962 Guardian 9 Mar. 8/2 The orders might contain..infant welfare foods (distributed as a voluntary service). 1963 B. Pearson Coal Flat iii. 48 ‘The first infant mistress's job that's going,’ she thought. |
7. Comb. as infant-baptism, the baptism of infants, pædobaptism; infant-queller; infant-killing, infant-sprinkling; infant-feeding adj.; also infant-like adj. and adv.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 51 A blind man, who had been so from his *Infant-baptism. 1680 Allen Peace & Unity 49 Churches Founded in Infant-Baptism, are not to be held Communion with. |
| 1897 Westm. Gaz. 19 Jan. 12/2 The *infant-feeding competition represents the..ceaseless intrigues in Court circles. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Infanticide, child-murthering, *infant-killing. |
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. i. 41 Your abilities are to *infant-like, for dooing much alone. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. 689 Produced, not in a mature and adult but an infant-like weak and tender state. |
| a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 386 Herod..the *infant queller. |
| 1655 Sanderson Serm. II. Pref. 7 Where are your lay-presbyters, your classes, &c. to be found in scripture? Where your steeple-houses?.. Your *infant-sprinklings? |
▪ II. infant, n.2
(ˈɪnfənt)
[ad. Sp., Pg. infante: perh. through F. infant (1407 in Hatz.-Darm.): see infante.]
A prince or princess of Spain or Portugal: = infante, infanta.
| 1555 Eden Decades 349 Don Lewes thinfant & brother to the kynge of Portugale. 1594 Parsons Confer. Success. ii. viii. 181 The two duchesses..daughters..of the lord Edward infant of Portugal. 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 179 The Infant and heir of Spain..had the title of Prince of Asturias. 1631 Heywood Eng. Eliz. (1641) 1 A match was concluded betwixt Prince Arthur..and the Infant Katharine, daughter to the King of Spain. 1753 Scots Mag. Jan. 12/1 The Infant Don Philip. 1838 Lytton Calderon i, The craft of the king was satisfied by the device of placing about the person of the Infant one devoted to himself. |
▪ III. † ˈinfant, v. Obs.
Also 5 enfaunt.
[a. F. enfanter (12th c.) f. enfant, infant n.1]
trans. To bring forth (a child), to give birth to. Also fig.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 128/2 The place in whych the vyrgyne marye enfaunted and childed Jhesu cryst. 1584 Southerne in Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxii. (Arb.) 260 An ingenious inuention, infanted with pleasant trauaille. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. i. lxxx, But newely he was infanted, And yet alreadie he was sought to die. 1641 Milton Reform. ii. (1851) 42 This worthy Motto, No Bishop, no King is of the same batch, and infanted out of the same feares. 1642 ― Apol. Smect. xi. |