Where does “children” come from?

Children comes from Middle English children, from Old English ċildru, the plural of ċild, from Proto-Germanic kelþaz, from Proto-Indo-European gelt-, related to Proto-Indo-European gel-.

children (English): plural of child

Definitions

  1. plural of child

Ancestry of “children”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishchildrenplural of child
2Middle Englishchildreplural of child
3Old Englishċildru—
4Old Englishċildchild, youth; fetus; female baby; child
5Proto-Germanickelþazfetus; newborn; infant; child
6Proto-Indo-Europeanǵelt-womb
7Proto-Indo-Europeanǵel-to swallow; swallow

Words derived from “children”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵel- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵelt- →Every word from Proto-Germanic kelþaz →