English
baby
see also: Baby
Etymology

From Middle English baby, babie, a diminutive form of babe, equivalent to .

Pronunciation Noun

baby (plural babies)

  1. A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XLIV, page 67 ↗:
      The baby new to earth and sky,
      ⁠What time his tender palm is prest
      ⁠Against the circle of the breast,
      Has never thought that ‘this is I:’ […]
  2. A very young human, even if not yet born.
    When is your baby due?
    Her baby had always been active, even before he was born, when he would kick her bladder.
  3. Any very young animal, especially a vertebrate; many species have specific names for their babies, such as kittens for the babies of cats, puppies for the babies of dogs, and chicks for the babies of birds. See Baby animals for more.
  4. A person who is immature, infantile or feeble.
    Stand up for yourself – don't be such a baby!
  5. A person who is new to or inexperienced in something.
    I only qualified as an architect this summer, so I'm still a baby.
  6. The lastborn of a family; the youngest sibling, irrespective of age.
    Adam is the baby of the family.
    • 1895, S. R. Crockett, A Cry Across the Black Water:
      "You are very dull this morning, Sheriff," said the youngest daughter of the house, who, being the baby and pretty, had grown pettishly privileged in speech.
    • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC ↗, page 114:
      "He's a year older than me." "You're the baby, eh?"
  7. A person's romantic partner; a term of endearment used to refer to or address one's girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse.
    Too busy thinking about my baby, and I ain't got time for nothing else.
    Baby, don't cry.
  8. (informal) A form of address to a person considered to be attractive.
    Hey baby, what are you doing later?
  9. A concept or creation endeared by its creator.
    This test program I've designed is my new baby.
  10. A pet project or responsibility.
    You need to talk to John about that – it's his baby.
    • 1996, Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy, Folio Society, published 2015, page 902:
      Sovnarkom was Lenin's baby, it was where he focused all his energies […].
  11. An affectionate term for anything.
    See my new car here? I can't wait to take this baby for a drive.
  12. (archaic) A small image of an infant; a doll.
  13. (often attributive) One who is new to an identity or community.
    • 2021, Yve Rees, quoted in Sam Elkin & Yve Rees, "Spilling the T", Bent Street: Australian LGBTIQA+ Arts, Writing & Ideas, Volume 5, Issue 1, unnumbered page ↗:
      As someone who is still a 'baby trans', these collaborations have taught me so much about what it means to live outside cisnormativity.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Adjective

baby (comparative babier, superlative babiest)

  1. (of vegetables, etc.) Picked when small and immature (as in baby corn, baby potatoes).
  2. Newest (overall, or in some group or state); most inexperienced.
    • 1894, Marion Harland, The Royal Road, Or, Taking Him at His Word, page 136:
      Mrs. Paull held out her hand to the babyest of the quartette, as they tiptoed up to the bed. “Lift her up, please, Marie!” she said, motioning to the place enclosed by her arm. When the rosy cheek touched hers upon the pillow, she asked ...
    • 1910, Marion Harland, Marion Harland's Autobiography: The Story of a Long Life, page 408:
      That evening, we grouped about the fire in the parlor, a wide circle that left room for the babyest of the party to disport themselves upon the rug, in the glow of the grate piled with cannel coal.
  3. (in the comparative or superlative) Like or pertaining to a baby, in size or youth; small, young.
    • 1888, Monthly Packet, page 170:
      Spider. Here let us begin at the beginning, at the babyest of books for Edith's nursery.
    • 1894, Edith E. Cuthell, Two Little Children and Ching, page 107:
      She let it drop out of her sleeve, and it was two Chings — the dearest, littlest, babyest, tiny Chings — little balls of fur! And she ran away, and daddy's father picked them up, and put them in his pockets, and brought them home, […]
    • 1908, Marion Harland, Housekeeper's Guide and Family Physician, page 98:
      Lemon-juice for ink spots: Not many weeks ago the babyest member of our household - perhaps moved by a hereditary tendency toward ink - slinging - divided the contents of an ink bottle impartially between the tiles of the bath-room floor ...
    • 1908, Mary Findlater, Jane Helen Findlater, Crossriggs, page 25:
      "There's a babier baby than Mike," she said. "But you will see her to-morrow. Aren't we rich? Come in and see Matilda - you won't find her much changed. It's so absurd to see her with all these children."
Verb

baby (babies, present participle babying; simple past and past participle babied)

  1. (transitive) To coddle; to pamper somebody like an infant.
    • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC ↗:
      […] though he tried to be gruff and mature, he yielded to her and was glad to be babied.
  2. (transitive) To tend (something) with care; to be overly attentive to (something), fuss over.
    • 1912, Linda Craig, interviewed by Theresa Forte, "Tree and Twig farm — a treasure chest of heirloom tomatoes," Welland Tribune, 25 May, 2012, [https://web.archive.org/web/20171205052150/http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2012/05/23/tree-and-twig-farm--a-treasure-chest-of-heirloom-tomatoes]
      I have grown them for years and although some years are better than others, I have always had loads of tomatoes by not babying them, going easy on the water, and fertilizing with compost in the planting hole.
Translations Related terms
Baby
Etymology

Two main origins:

  • Borrowed from Malayalam ബേബി, a surname typically found in Kerala.
  • Borrowed from French Baby.
Proper noun
  1. Surname.


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