Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “childcare” come from?

Childcare is a Modern English compound of child and care, with child deriving from Old English cild, a word of uncertain ultimate origin.

childcare (English): The act, practice, or occupation of supervising...

Definitions

  1. The act, practice, or occupation of supervising...

Ancestry of “childcare”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishChildAlternative letter-case form of child "often used...
2Middle EnglishchildenTo deliver a child; to beget or procreate; To...
3Middle English-enDenotes the past participle form when attached to...
4Old English-enmæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;...
5Old Norse-innUsed to create adjectives from nouns, meaning...
6Proto-Norse-īna-—
7Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
8Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
9Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →