infantile

English

Etymology

Mid-15th century, "pertaining to infants," from Latin infantilis (“pertaining to an infant”), equivalent to infant +‎ -ile, from īnfāns. Sense of "infant-like" is from 1772.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnfəntaɪl/

Adjective

infantile (comparative more infantile, superlative most infantile)

1. Pertaining to infants.

   infantile paralysis

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 9, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.

2. Childish; immature.

   Synonyms: juvenile, puerile; see also Thesaurus:childish

Derived terms

• infantile dementia
• infantilely
• infantile paralysis
• infantilise
• progressive infantile poliodystrophy

Translations

pertaining to infants

Bulgarian: детски (bg) (detski) Catalan: infantil (ca) French: infantile (fr) German: infantil (de), kindisch (de), albern (de) Hebrew: ילדותי (he) (yalduti) Italian: infantile (it) Manx: lhiannooagh, oikanagh Polish: dziecięcy (pl) Spanish: infantil (es), pueril (es) Swedish: infantil (sv) Turkish: çocuksal

childish; immature

Bulgarian: детински (bg) (detinski), инфантилен (bg) (infantilen) Catalan: infantil (ca) Czech: infantilní (cs), dětinský (cs) Dutch: infantiel (nl), kinderlijk (nl), kinderachtig (nl) French: infantile (fr) Hebrew: ילדותי (he) (yalduti), אינפנטילי (he) (infantili) Hungarian: infantilis (hu) Italian: infantile (it), puerile (it) Polish: infantylny (pl), dziecinny (pl) Slovak: infantilný (sk), detinský (sk) Spanish: infantil (es), pueril (es), aniñado (es) Swedish: infantil (sv) Turkish: çocukça (tr), çocuksu (tr) Ukrainian: інфанти́льний (infantýlʹnyj)

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “infantile”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.fɑ̃.til/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

infantile (plural infantiles)

1. infantile

Derived terms

• infantilisateur
• infantilisation
• infantiliser
• infantilité

See also

• enfance
• enfant

Further reading

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

Italian

Etymology

From Latin īnfantilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /in.fanˈti.le/
• Rhymes: -ile
• Hyphenation: in‧fan‧tì‧le

Adjective

infantile (plural infantili)

1. infantile (relating to children or babies)
2. infantile puerile, childish, babyish

   Synonym: puerile

Derived terms

• infantilismo
• infantilità
• infantilmente

Related terms

• infanzia

Further reading

• infantile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• fentanili, infilante

Swedish

Adjective

infantile

1. definite natural masculine singular of infantil