Synonyms:
infancy, babyhood, early_childhood
Meaning: the early stage of growth or development
Usage examples
They had been glorifying their work too energetically to destroy it in its infancy.
"They spoiled me in my infancy, and my unfortunate experience causes me to warn you."
Man, in his infancy, is neither criminal nor barbarous, but ignorant and inexperienced.
He and Kadijah had six children, four girls and two boys, but both of the boys died in their infancy.
Impatient of contradiction, because she had been accustomed from her infancy to be treated as a queen.
From this point, therefore, we shall present some of the incidents of her life, from infancy, and very nearly word for word as she related them:
Of the four sons, Edward died in infancy; William ("Willie") at twelve at Washington; Thomas ("Tad") at Springfield, aged twenty; Robert M. T., minister to Great Britain, presidential candidate, secretary of war to President Garfield.
His nurse, an old Northumbrian woman, attached to him from his infancy, was the only person connected with his native province for whom he retained any regard; and when fortune dawned upon him, one of the first uses which he made of her favours, was to give Mabel Rickets a place of residence within his household.
The child was all the dearer, because only with infinite care had she succeeded in rearing him to man's estate; medical science had predicted his death a score of times, but she had held fast to her presentiments and her hopes, and had known the inexpressible joy of watching him pass safely through the perils of infancy, of seeing his constitution strengthen in spite of the decrees of the Faculty.