enfant
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French enfant, from Old French enfant, from Latin īnfantem.
Pronunciation
Noun
enfant m or f by sense (plural enfants)
- child (someone who is not yet an adult)
- child (offspring of any age)
- son, native (of a place)
- enfant de Paris ― Paris native
- enfant des États-Unis ― native of the United States
- enfant du pays ― native of the country
Usage notes
Rarely used as a feminine noun.
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- Saint Dominican Creole French: z'enfant
See also
Further reading
- “enfant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French enfant.
Pronunciation
Noun
enfant m (plural enfanz)
Descendants
- French: enfant
Norman
Etymology
From Old French enfant, from Latin infans.
Pronunciation
Noun
enfant m (plural enfants)
Related terms
- enfanche
Occitan
Alternative forms
Etymology
Probably borrowed from Latin īnfāns, īnfāntem.
Noun
enfant m (plural enfants)
Related terms
- enfantet
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
Probably borrowed from Latin īnfāntem, accusative singular of īnfāns. The nominative form enfes derives from the Latin nominative form īnfāns.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (early) /ẽnˈfãnt/, (late) /ãnˈfãnt/ (after lowering of nasalized vowels)
Noun
enfant oblique singular, m (oblique plural enfanz, nominative singular enfes, nominative plural enfant)
- child
- 13th century, Herman de Valenciennes, Assomption Nostre Dame, page 8, column 1, line 28:
- totes les puceles & trestuit li enfant
- All the young women and all the children