Definition

1. Noun:
   • The early stage of growth or development: This term refers specifically to the initial period of a person's life, typically from birth to around eight years old, characterized by rapid physical, cognitive, and emotional development.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The foundation for language skills is built in early childhood.
  • Early childhood education focuses on learning through play and social interaction.
  • Memories from early childhood are often vague.

Advanced Usage

• "In one's early childhood": Used to specify the time period belonging to a particular person's early life.
  • He developed a love for music in his early childhood.

Variants and Related Words

• Early childhood education (ECE) (n): The formal teaching and care of young children by people outside the family or in settings beyond the home.
  • She has a degree in early childhood education.
• Early childhood development (ECD) (n): The holistic emotional, cognitive, sensory, spiritual, moral, physical, social, and communication development of children from birth to age eight.
  • The program monitors indicators of early childhood development.

Synonyms

• Infancy and toddlerhood: The stages of being a baby and a very young child.
• Preschool years: The period before a child starts primary school.
• Formative years: The period when a person's character and attitudes are developing.

Related Phrases

• Early childhood caries: Severe tooth decay in young children.
  • Dentists warn against sugary drinks to prevent early childhood caries.
• Early childhood intervention: Services and support for young children with developmental delays or disabilities.
  • Early childhood intervention can significantly improve long-term outcomes.

Related Idioms

• "From the cradle": From a very early age.
  • She's been playing the piano from the cradle.
• "In the bloom of youth": In the period of greatest vitality or success in one's youth (a more poetic, broader term that can encompass later childhood).
  • He was full of idealism in the bloom of youth.

Noun

1. the early stage of growth or development