English
childish
Childish comes from Middle English childisch ‘Childlike, juvenile’, from Proto-Germanic *kelþaz ‘womb’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gelt-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gelt-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kelþaz‘womb’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kilþreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ċild‘child’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ċildisċ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500childisch‘Childlike, juvenile’
- Englishearliest quotation 1824childish
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gelt-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kelþaz‘womb’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kilþreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ċild‘child’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ċildisċ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500childisch‘Childlike, juvenile’
- Englishearliest quotation 1824childish
Earliest quotation: 1824, Susan Ferrier, The Inheritance: “She remembered, too, when, after a long childish illness,…”
Equivalent to child + -ish
Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt- ‘womb’
Proto-Germanic *kelþaz ‘womb’
Proto-West Germanic *kilþ
Old English ċild
Middle English child ‘a child’
English child
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to ball up, amass’
clean, cold, cloud, globe, cluster, gel, jelly, chill, clout, clot, gelatin, clough, gelato, glebe, ganglion, clod, globus, klutz, globulin, 47 more
through Proto-Indo-European *gelt-
through Old English ċild ‘child’
Today it means
adj Immature in thought or behaviour.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gelt- / childish