baby
Pluralbabies
Adjectivebabier, babyer, baby-er, babiest, babyest, baby-est
Pluralbabies
Formsbabier, babyer, baby-er, babiest, babyest, baby-est
- 1A very young child, from before birth until about the age of two or until it can walk well.
The newborn baby weighed just over seven pounds at birth.
New parents often struggle to soothe a crying baby.
UsageCommon in have a baby, be expecting a baby and a baby boy; it can refer to a baby whose sex is unknown.
Similarinfant
Note
It usually means a child already born, but it also covers one still in the womb, as in she is expecting a baby. Tennyson, in In Memoriam (1850), catches it exactly: the baby "new to earth and sky," not yet aware of itself.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Tennyson wrote In Memoriam, first published in 1850. gutenberg.org
- The poem describes a baby as new to earth and sky and not yet conscious of its own identity. gutenberg.org
- 2Any very young animal, especially a vertebrate, many of which have specific names such as kittens, puppies, and chicks.
The zookeeper hand-fed the baby gorilla after its mother rejected it.
Many predators target the babies of grazing animals during calving season.
UsageOften before the animal's name: a baby gorilla, baby birds.
Similaryoung
- 3Small or young for its kind, such as a vegetable picked before it is fully grown.
We roasted the baby potatoes whole, skins and all, with garlic and rosemary.
The stir-fry was packed with baby corn, snap peas, and thin strips of beef.
Note
Comparison is unusual for this adjective, and its spellings have never settled: babier, babyer or baby-er, and babiest, babyest or baby-est. Edith E. Cuthell's Two Little Children and Ching (1894) piles up "the dearest, littlest, babyest, tiny Chings," and the Findlaters' Crossriggs (1908) has "a babier baby than Mike." In the plain form, as in baby face, it simply means small and young.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- The comparative and superlative have the six listed spelling variants. en.wiktionary.org
- Edith E. Cuthell wrote Two Little Children and Ching. gutenberg.org
- The Cuthell quotation has the stated wording. en.wiktionary.org
- Jane and Mary Findlater wrote Crossriggs. en.wikipedia.org
- Crossriggs contains the quoted phrase. en.wiktionary.org
- 4An affectionate name for a romantic partner, or an informal way of addressing someone one finds attractive.
Goodnight, baby. I'll see you in the morning.
"Happy anniversary, baby," he whispered, handing his wife a box of chocolates.
UsageMy baby names a partner; bare baby, set off by a comma, speaks to them: Goodnight, baby.
Similardarling, honey, sweetheart, babe, love
Note
Popular song is its natural home. The opening of "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956), performed by Elvis Presley, uses it in exactly this way, telling of the singer's baby having left him.
- 5An affectionate name for a person, animal, or thing one feels fondness for.
"Easy now, baby," she murmured to her sputtering old car.
"Goodnight, baby, sleep well," he told his daughter.
UsageOften with this, of a car or machine you are proud of: take this baby for a drive.
Similardarling, sweetheart, honey, sweetie, dear
- 6A project, plan or task that a particular person is responsible for, especially one they started and care about.
That documentary was her baby, and she fought over every edit.
The new app is his baby; he coded every line himself.
UsageUsually with a possessive: the project is her baby.
Similarbrainchild
- 7Used, often to no one in particular, to show excitement, delight, or triumph, or to give a remark extra force.
"Payday, baby!" he shouted as he walked out of the office.
When the final score came up, she jumped off the couch and cheered, "That's how it's done, baby!"
UsageUsually placed at the end of a clause after a comma, as in We won, baby!
Less common meanings
- 8
- 9The lastborn of a family; the youngest sibling, regardless of current age.
Being the baby of five children, Tom was always the most protected.
Their grandmother still treats the baby of the family like a small child.
UsageMost often the baby of the family, even for an adult.
Similaryoungest
Oppositeeldest
Note
A family sense that ignores the calendar: the youngest child stays the baby at forty. S. R. Crockett's A Cry Across the Black Water (1894) shows the privileges the role was thought to carry, a youngest daughter grown "pettishly privileged in speech," and Norman Lindsay's Redheap (1930) has the bare question: "You're the baby, eh?"
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- S. R. Crockett wrote A Cry Across the Black Water. gutenberg.org
- The story describes the youngest daughter as having grown "pettishly privileged in speech." gutenberg.org
- Norman Lindsay's Redheap was first published in 1930. openlibrary.org
- Redheap contains the question "You're the baby, eh?" en.wiktionary.org
- 10To treat someone or something with great or excessive care and attention, as one would a baby.
His grandmother babied him relentlessly, cutting his food and fetching his slippers.
Coaches who baby their star players often regret it later.
UsageOften passive (be babied) or reflexive (baby yourself); can also take a thing as object, as in baby an old car.
Similarpamper, coddle, spoil, mollycoddle, indulge
Note
In Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt (1922), a man is "glad to be babied," and Emily Carr's architect spends six weeks "babying himself at home."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Sinclair Lewis wrote Babbitt, first published in 1922. gutenberg.org
- The narration in Babbitt describes a man as glad to be babied. gutenberg.org
- Carr describes the man staying home for six weeks, babying himself. gutenberg.net.au
- 11
- 12Being the youngest or newest member of a group, and thus the least experienced.
The baby associate at the firm got handed the tedious paperwork.
The partners handed the dullest paperwork to the baby associates who had just passed the bar.
Similarjunior, rookie, newest, youngest
Note
The superlative is where this sense comes alive. Marion Harland writes of "the babyest of the quartette" in 1894 and "the babyest of the party" in 1910, meaning the youngest of a group. It can even be graded with very, as in Marion Halligan's The Apricot Colonel (2006): "a baby editor. Very baby."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The 1894 quotation is attributed to Marion Harland in The Royal Road; or, Taking Him at His Word. en.wiktionary.org
- Harland's 1910 autobiography contains the phrase the babyest of the party, referring to the youngest participants. gutenberg.org
- Marion Halligan wrote The Apricot Colonel. en.wikipedia.org
- The Apricot Colonel contains the quoted words a baby editor and Very baby. en.wiktionary.org
- 13A doll, or any small figure made in the likeness of an infant.
Note
A toy-box sense that has passed out of use: what was once a baby, a small figure of an infant, is now simply a doll. In older writing, a child playing with her baby may mean a doll rather than a sibling. In present-day English the usage would only confuse, so recognize it when reading historical texts but do not use it in your own writing.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- Baby historically meant a doll or small figure of an infant, so references to a child's baby in older writing can mean a doll. en.wiktionary.org
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of baby apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
The word is a Middle English pet form of babe, spelled baby or babie, made with the affectionate, diminutive ending -y/-ie. Baby talk may be its ultimate source (compare babble).
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Baby derives from Middle English baby or babie, a pet or diminutive form of babe formed with the affectionate suffix -y/-ie. en.wiktionary.org
- Baby may ultimately imitate infant speech, with babble offering an etymological comparison. en.wiktionary.org